Saga Stories: A tale of Zombie Land Saga
by Talespinner69
Summary: When seventeen-year-old Sakura Minamoto is hit by a bluish van on the way to audition to be an actress, she dies. ...Only to wake up a little over eleven years later as a zombie that stars with other zombies on a hit new sitcom show set to save Saga prefecture. It may not be what she had in mind, but hey, Sakura still gets to be an actress. (AU of series proper with a few changes)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Zombie Land Saga, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Saga Stories: A tale of Zombie Land Saga

Chapter one: I diagnose you with dead

(DATE: APRIL 7TH, 2008)

"I'm telling you, I'm going to make it!"

Sakura Minamoto still couldn't believe it; her family continues to go on with treating her ambitions, her hopes and dreams, as nothing more than mere flights of fancy. She figured that her mother and brother would show at least a token amount of support for her, but no, they both think that she's playing pretend. Feh, like Sakura's little brother Sasuke (named after their late grandfather) is one to talk about playing pretend; the little brat is three-years-old, and yet he acts like the mature older teen sibling whereas Sakura's the toddler.

Sakura knows _way_ better than her snot-nosed little brother. Come on, why wouldn't the dark rose-colored haired girl know better? He's three and she's seventeen (her seventeenth birthday was five days ago, in fact, so suck it Sasuke), so it's obvious that Sakura can handle herself way better than a toddler who acts like the mature older sibling can handle her. You know what? Sakura's mom and little brother can both suck a salt lick. She knows what she's doing. Sakura knows full well that she will make her dreams come true by the end of the day.

By the end of the day, Sakura Minamoto was going to become an _actress_.

Luckily for her, Sakura's school had to cancel classes for the day, so she was free to go straight to the studio for her audition. She felt very confident about it to, partly because she was driving herself forward by the power of piss and vinegar over her mom and brat brother not believing in her, partly because the mid-fifties lady running the auditions actually knows and is rather fond of Sakura so that helps, and partly because all of Sakura's friends at their school are rooting for her, such as that shy boy who picked up a DVD case Sakura dropped the last time she was at school and handed it to her.

Sakura forgot what that boy's name was at the moment, but she felt that he was her friend who she was most grateful towards, as he was the most supportive out of anyone of her dreams and aspirations. Oh well, Sakura would tell him and all of their friends later of how her audition went so that they could all celebrate together as a group. But that was another task for another time. For now, Sakura had to get going to the audition, which is part of why she was dressed for the day already even though she had the day off of school.

Sakura walked out of the door wearing a baggy pale pink shirt with some minor floral patterns on it, baggy pair of tan-colored cargo shorts held up with a simple black leather belt, the loafers she wore with her school uniform and a pair of baggy socks, the kind that are commonly sported by Japanese high school girls in Japan. On the left side of her head, a portion of her long dark rose-pink colored hair was brought up with two ribbons, one blue and one pink. In her arms Sakura held a folder that had some important papers that she was going to need for her audition today, which the aforementioned nice old lady more or less told Sakura in private were just for the sake of formality.

Inhaling through her nose before breathing out, Sakura reaffirmed her confidence, knowing that she was going to knock it out of the park. By the end of the day, the Minamoto household was going to be on the face of the map of Japan, as it was going to be the residence of Japan's newest hit actress. Excited for what the day had in store for her, Sakura took off running after she closed the door to her family's house behind her, calling out to her mother and brat brother who were both still inside.

"Bye mom! Bye Sasuke!" Sakura called out cheerfully as she ran down the path that led from the front door to the entry gate in the wall fence around their house. Sakura was so excited that she was not quite paying attention to her surroundings; but then again, she and her family lived in a very safe neighborhood, so an excited late teens girl like herself could afford to be just a little on the reckless side. Right when she ran out the gate, Sakura called out again, "I'll see you both when I get back from-"

*SCREEEEEECH*

*WHABAM*

*CRACK*

*KAHTHUD*

Due to her happily running off while not paying attention, Sakura was hit dead-on by a large bluish van like vehicle that came seemingly out of nowhere, sending the poor girl flying. Sakura was already knocked out cold by the brunt force of the van hitting her, but when her flailing body landed on the asphalt, her forehead smacked onto the road in that neighborhood street with a sickening crack, a crack that made Sakura's condition go well beyond the scope of merely being 'knocked out cold'.

Sakura Minamoto was now dead.

* * *

(DATE: UNKNOWN)

Slowly, Sakura came to. The girl with long dark rose-pink hair felt that the dream that she just woke up from, where she was hit dead-on by a large bluish van like vehicle while she was on her way to audition and finally achieve her dream of becoming an actress, was a dream that was a bit on the jarring side. Even so, Sakura was glad that it was only just a dream. Now all she had to do was get up off of the floor that she found herself waking up on, gather her folder that she was going to take with her to the audit-

…Wait a minute, waking up on the _floor_? Sakura never recalled falling asleep on the floor in her bedroom. As a matter of fact, Sakura can tell full well that the room that she just woke up in is in fact _not_ her bedroom. It was a large, dark and dreary room in what Sakura estimated to be a large and abandoned mansion of some kind. Due the severe lack of lighting in the room, Sakura's vision was limited to what she could see with what little light was coming in through cracks in the curtains over the windows.

It wasn't all that much though, given that not only was it raining outside right now, but that it was also at night; as such, the long-haired girl had to rely on the brief flashes of light provided by the occasional bolt of lightning. When the first flash of lightning that Sakura took advantage of to see her surroundings with struck, Sakura saw that there were nine other persons lying on the floor in the same room that Sakura herself had just woken up in. Nine struck Sakura as a bit of a large number for all of them to wake up in, but then again the room was a bit on the large side, so Sakura could see how ten (counting herself) could swing this room.

Sakura, a bit tentatively due to everything that she had woken up to and had begun to realize (which is understandable, given her current situation), slowly walked over to the nearest person that was lying on the floor, a girl Sakura estimated to be barely older than herself. This girl laid so that he back was to the approaching Sakura, but the long-haired girl could see that this girl had long blonde hair in a high ponytail, also she wore what appeared to be a jacket whose sleeves ended at the elbows, and a knee-length skirt that appeared to belong to a school uniform of some kind.

Hoping that this mystery girl would be able to answer a few questions for her, Sakura squatted down in a sort-of frog like pose and, reaching out with her right hand, gave the mystery girl a gentle shake, Sakura's right hand on the mystery girl's left shoulder. "Umm, excuse me there," the long-haired girl began, clearly sounding worried, "I hate to wake you up, but I don't suppose you might have any idea what might be go-"

"Uuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhh….." the mystery girl moaned, the tone of said moan sending shivers right down Sakura's spine. That moan did not sound human to Sakura in the least. As a matter of fact, Sakura felt that such a moan could only come from the mystery girl if she was some manner of undead. So when the mystery girl rolled over to face Sakura, and the long-haired girl saw that the mystery girl had grayish-blue skin, red eyes with a scar running down the left side of her face from her eye, Sakura's reaction was very sound, a reaction no one could fault her for having.

She freaked the hell out.

"AHHHHHHHH!" Sakura exclaimed at the top of her lungs at as high a volume as she could achieve, getting right up and stumbling backwards as the mystery girl slowly got up to her feet, moving stiff and robotically. In her backwards stumbling, Sakura nearly tripped over a second one of the persons lying on the floor, and Sakura's contact with this person also stirred them from their slumber. Sensing this, Sakura quickly turned to see that the person that she had nearly tripped over was another mystery girl, this one looking to be about as old as the one that just got up off of the floor like a stiff, robotically-moving undead.

This second mystery girl, about as tall as the first, wore black cargo shorts held up with a belt, similar to the light tan that Sakura herself wore. This second mystery girl also wore a duster coat that had the sleeves ripped off, leaving the piece as a sleeveless coat that displayed the sleeves of the dark gray t-shirt worn underneath. The second mystery girl also had fiery red hair that was in twin braids that cascaded down her back, save for bangs that were allowed to frame her face.

The panicking Sakura hoped that this second mystery girl would not be like the first. But to the poor girl's ever increasing fear, the second mystery girl _also_ had grayish-blue skin and red eyes, and she also moaned much like the first. As the first and second mystery girls moaned like freshly risen undead, the other seven persons, all of which were girls, which were laying on the floor also began to rise. All of them, to Sakura's horror, had the same grayish-blue skin and red eyes, and they all moaned like the undead.

If this was a nightmare of some manner, then Sakura prayed to any and every god that would listen to her and allow her to wake right the hell up right the hell now. But there was no such luck in that department. The girls laying on the floor began to rise, one by one. There was a short girl with large bright blue twin pigtails and her heart, which was riddled with cuts from the looks of it, was sticking out of her chest. Rising up next to this short undead girl was another undead girl that looked to be about Sakura's height and general age group, with this second girl having straight black hair that reached past her collarbone also this second girl looked like she had just gotten out of a pool due to looking soaked.

Two more of these undead girls rose approximately at the same time. The first one had chin-length slate blue hair and had noticeable burn marks over a lot of her skin that was not covered; these burn marks looked to have been caused by a fire of some sort. The second undead girl in this pair had white hair about the same length as her burned companion, and that said hair curled a bit at the bottom. The white-haired undead girl looked like she was stitched together all over her person; Sakura had no idea what might have caused such a condition, but she suspected that this white-haired undead girl was in a terrible accident that tore her up a bit.

Two more of the undead girls got up; one had long light brownish hair and her face looked noticeably paler than that of the other undead girls, and the second undead girl had auburn hair that was mostly up in a bow on her head, also she wore a kimono-like outfit and around this girl's neck was some severe scarring. These two undead girls, alongside the first six that Sakura saw slowly get up off of the floor after laying there, all turned to see Sakura herself and, to the long-haired girl's horror, they all started turning to go to _her_.

So Sakura bolted. I mean, who can really blame her?

In her haste to run out of the room, Sakura struggled to open the door for a bit. As the undead girls all shuffled their way towards her, Sakura flattened against the wall, her hands slowly spreading further and further away from her person along the wall. Her right hand eventually found the handle of something and, without even thinking on it, Sakura grabbed the handle to what ended up being a fireplace poker and swung it at the closest undead girl, the slate blue-haired girl with the burn marks. The poker went through her head and pinned her to the wall, but that only kept her there for a few seconds at best before she freed herself and continued to go right after Sakura, the poker still shoved through her head.

Still, the act of attacking that undead girl with the poker bought Sakura enough time to finally yank the door open and run right out. The long-haired girl sprinted through the hallway as she made a sharp turn to go down some stairs, hoping to outrun the eight undead girls that had tried to go after- …Sakura's eyes widened in realization as she recalled that _eight_ undead girls from that room tried to go after her, even though she had counted _nine_ bodies lying on the floor. Did she miscount by any chance, or did-

*CRRRASSSSH*

"HUGGGGRRRRAAAAHHH!"

Sakura skidded to a sudden halt as the uncounted ninth undead girl crashed through a door and landed in front of her; this undead girl had long pitch black hair and wore a long black dress with long sleeves. This one seemed to Sakura to be the most savage and mindless of the undead girls, and that frightened Sakura even more. Regaining her sense of self, Sakura hastily kicked the ninth undead girl out of her way before continuing to run for her life. Eventually, Sakura found the front door of the abandoned mansion that she woke up in. Yanking the door wide open, she ran right out and into the raining night.

* * *

Sakura continued to run in the rain, uncaring of the fact that her favorite t-shirt and cargo shorts were getting soaked in the nighttime downpour. At one point in her frantic running, Sakura came to a stop, and when she did, she was able to get a look at her surroundings; she saw a sign that denoted the nearby river as Machida River, and another sign that told her that she was currently in the Saga prefecture. "…_I_'_m in Saga prefecture_?" Sakura thought in confusion as she was getting a hold on her surroundings and bearings, "_How did I wind up so far away from home_?"

Quickly shaking her head, sprinkling rain that was in her hair all over, Sakura brought herself back to focusing on the main issue that she was facing; the fact that she was fleeing a group of undead girls that were trying to go after her. She had to tell someone what was going on, and luckily for her, Sakura saw a local police officer heading towards her, pushing a bike along. "Hey there, young lady!" the police officer called out, "Don't you think it's a bit late to be out, especially in weather like this?"

"Officer! Thank goodness!" Sakura called out as she ran towards the police officer, allowing her to see him better…and him to see her better. When Sakura got close enough, the police officer, after a brief look of confusion on his face while looking at Sakura, suddenly went wide-eyed with shocked horror and he stumbled back, dropping his bike to the ground in the process. He fell on his rear as he stammered in frightened panic. Seeing the police officer act in such a way, the long-haired girl became confused.

Taking a step towards the cowering police officer, Sakura said, "Umm, officer? Are you-" Sakura stopped short when the police officer whipped out a gun and aimed it right at her.

"S-S-stay back!" the police officer cried out in panicked fear, "I'll sh-sh-shoot!"

Now Sakura was truly worried; the one person she was able to find that would be able to help her, and he wanted to shoot her? "Officer, please!" Sakura said with increasing worry, "I'm just trying to ask you for help! You see, I was being chased by-" A flash of lightning cut Sakura off and, in her current worrying state, she turned and faced a circular mirror that was attached to a street post or some other manner of structure. There was another flash of lightning, and with it Sakura was able to see her reflection in that mirror, was able to see why the police officer was acting horrified. To be honest, Sakura was similarly horrified herself; she had grayish-blue skin and red eyes, just like those undead girls that she was fleeing from.

Sakura herself was undead.

*BANG*

Sakura flinched barely, the shock of realizing that she was no longer among the living doing a lot to distract her. Looking down at her chest, she saw that there was a bullet exit wound around the area of just below the middle of her collarbone. She turned around to look at the shaking police officer, saw that the barrel of his gun was smoking. Sakura then leaned backwards a bit and just fell over onto the ground with a 'splat', given that it was currently raining heavily. The police officer, after Sakura fell on the ground, got up and tentatively walked over to see what was going on with the horrifying girl he had just opened fire upon. He stood over her body, which laid face-up as it was soaked in the rain, and for just a second, relief flooded into the officer, glad that this horror, who or whatever she was, was now down for the count.

Then Sakura's eyes turned to look up at him.

The officer jumped in his skin, but before he can take any action, he was hit in the back of the head with a shovel, knocking him out cold and dropping him to the ground. A few seconds after she saw the police officer drop, Sakura saw the person who knocked him out walk up so that he was in her field of vision.

It was a young adult man with tidily combed brown hair, a pair of sunglasses despite the fact that at this time of night there was no need, a white long-sleeved dress shirt under a red vest that had some squid tentacle snacks sticking out of the one pocket, a black bowtie, and a black dress jacket that he wore over his shoulders as a sort of cape. Due to the angle at which Sakura was seeing this man, she didn't see his pants and shoes, but she had a feeling that they complemented the rest of his outfit. The long-haired undead girl also had a feeling that she might have known this guy from somewhere, but nothing was coming to mind for her. Oh well.

With this mystery man who came to her rescue watching over her, Sakura slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

Later, Sakura came to in a rather fancy room in what she assumed was the home of the mystery man that rescued her. Getting up, Sakura ran over to a mirror she saw hanging on the wall so she could get a look at herself. She saw that she still had the grayish-blue skin and red eyes like those other undead girls that she remembered from what she thought was a nightmare, but she was coming to slowly realize might actually be real, might actually be her new life. If you can call it a 'life', given that Sakura was, by all appearances, an undead.

Sakura saw that the bullet exit wound around the area of her collarbone was still there, so she tentatively brought her right hand fingers up to brush against it. "I…" Sakura said as she spoke aloud, "…I can't believe it. I'm…"

"You're awake," a male adult voice said, cutting Sakura off and making her turn to see the source of the voice, which turned out to be the mystery man who had rescued her earlier. To the undead girl's interest, the mystery man was holding what looked to be a Japanese Chin that, similar to the one undead girl Sakura saw earlier, had stitches all over its body, indicating some manner of Frankenstein-esque work in a lab had to be done to put it back together.

"Uhh," Sakura said, confused into being unable to find the words, "Mmm, what is going-"

"Today's date is September twenty-eighth, two-thousand and nineteen," the mystery man said, cutting Sakura off midsentence, "You have been dead for a little over eleven years, close to eleven and a half. Even though you are now a zombie, you have returned to the land of the living." With something of a self-amused smirk on his face, the mystery man said, "I believe that calls for some manner of celebration, don't you think?"

Sakura could not believe all that she had just heard the mystery man tell her; not only had she been dead for over eleven years, but now she's a zombie? Surly there had to be some sort of mistake here. "…Umm," Sakura began tentatively, "Are you sure that-"

"My name is Kotaro Tatsumi," the mystery man said as he introduced himself, "And you're going to help me save Saga prefecture." As Kotaro leaned closer in towards Sakura when he got close enough to her, Sakura was feeling more and more concerned by everything that was going on, as well as all of the recent revelations that she was still trying to deal with. However, she was a bit distracted by the fact that Kotaro had squid snacks sticking out of the pocket on his red vest.

* * *

The following morning, with the skies clear now that the rain had ended, Sakura learned a few things about where Kotaro had brought her back to after he rescued her from the police officer the night before. First off, it turned out that Sakura was brought back to the abandoned mansion that she found herself in when she woke up and sub-sequentially had to run away from all of those undead girls.

Second off, she was in a cellar located under said abandoned mansion, sitting in one of the folding chairs in the row of folding chairs as the other nine undead girls all milled about the room without any purpose, although Sakura did notice that someone, most likely Kotaro, had taken the liberty of removing the poker that she (Sakura) had shoved into the head of the undead girl with the burned skin.

As these nine undead girls, acting like the mindless zombies that they really were, shuffled around and moaned aimlessly, the door leading into the cellar room opened and Kotaro walked in. "Alright, ladies!" Kotaro greeted as he walked in, "Welcome to day one of orientation! We have a lot of work ahead of us if we're going to succeed with the plan to save Saga!" The zombie girls that didn't have minds or wills continued to just moan and shuffle along. Sakura, the only zombie that was self-aware, looked to Kotaro with an expression of mild concern.

"…Umm, Mr. Kotaro-san," Sakura began in a tentative, mildly nervous tone as she raised her right hand slightly, "I don't think that the others here are-"

Sakura was cut off when Kotaro walked right up to her so that he was in her personal space, leaned down so his face was in hers, then shouted, "Questions can wait until after orientation! Right now, we've got business to take care of!"

A bit shaky due to Kotaro's bold pushiness frightening her a bit, Sakura said, "W-What kind of business are y-you talking about?"

Straightening back up, Kotaro turned and walked back to the chalkboard that he was standing in front of. Turning around to face Sakura, Kotaro said, "Ah, I'm glad that one of you girls has decided to ask the big questions. The business that I'm talking about it quite simple, really." He gave the one lower corner of the chalkboard he stood in front of a good hard slap, making the board flip over to reveal the other side, showing a chalk drawing that was upside down, which meant that he should have just turned the chalkboard around instead.

"We are going to save Saga prefecture!" Kotaro declared loudly, "Using a little plan that I like to call the 'Saga Stories' project!"

"Saga…" Sakura began slowly out of mild confusion, "…Stories?"

Nodding twice in the affirmative, Kotaro began to explain, "You see, Saga prefecture has seen a very sharp drop in tourism in recent years. So much so that Saga is in danger of going under. As a longtime resident of this beautiful and glorious prefecture, I simply can't stand by and let the home that I love so much fall into obscurity and backwater status." Clapping his hands together, Kotaro continued, "And that's there the 'Saga Stories' project comes into play. I will be having all of you girls act in a new slice-of-life sitcom set right here in the Saga prefecture that will be hitting the airwaves of televisions all over Japan." Pointing in a somewhat dramatic fashion right at Sakura, Kotaro half asked half demanded, "Are you ready to be one of the actresses on a new TV show that's set to save an entire prefecture from fading into obscurity?!"

"Me? An…" Sakura said out of confused shock, "…Actress?" suddenly realizing that Kotaro said that _all_ of the zombie girls were going to be acting in this supposed new TV show, Sakura said, "Wait a minute Kotaro-san, how can the rest of the girls here act if they're acting like mindless undead? While we're on that subject, who are all of these girls even?"

Kotaro smirked as he let out a huff that was clearly meant to be a laugh. "These girls…" the eccentric man began, "…Are all legends." Pointing dramatically with both index fingers at the zombie girl with the long blonde ponytail, Kotaro said, "To kick things off here, we have the legendary Kamikaze squad leader who ruled the roads with an iron fist! Saki Nikaido!" The zombie in question, Saki as she was just named, simply stood there, only turned so that she was part facing Sakura and Kotaro.

Pointing next to the white-haired zombie girl, Kotaro continued, "Next we have the legendary Showa idol who inspired idols after her! Let's hear it for Junko Konno!" The white-haired zombie girl, Junko, was trying to walk into the bars of a prison cell that was in the cellar for some odd reason. Sakura felt that asking why there was a prison cell down here would be a question that she wanted to ask Kotaro, but the eccentric man was not stopping with introducing all of the zombie girls just yet.

Pointing to the girl in the kimono-like outfit, Kotaro said, "Up next, the legendary courtesan that all men of the Meiji Era would flock to town to see! Yugiri!" As Sakura turned to look at the now introduced Yugiri, who was sitting on the floor, she had trouble believing that this girl was from the Meiji Era, which would put her well over one-hundred and fifty years old; how can a zombie who was a living being from that long ago still be in good enough condition? Wouldn't Yugiri's remains have long since decomposed?

Now pointing to the short girl with the big blue twin ponytails, Kotaro said, "This girl will be one of the key players for the 'Saga Stories' project, let's hear it for the legendary child actress prodigy! Lily Hoshikawa!" Lily, who stood a few feet away from Sakura with a blank look on her face and her mouth wide open, struck Sakura as something of a tragedy; a child this young, not only having died but returned as some manner of undead? But then again, more or less the same could be applied to Sakura herself, as well as all of the zombie girls. But Lily being only a child struck Sakura as a little more heartbreaking than the older girls of the group.

"Up next," Kotaro said as he pointed to the burned girl that had slate blue hair, "We have the legendary Heisei idol who took the idol industry in Japan by storm! Ai Mizuno!" As she looked at Ai, Sakura couldn't help but feel that she had seen Ai somewhere else before. But the long-haired zombie girl just couldn't put her undead tongue on it. Regardless, Kotaro was not going to give Sakura time to ponder where she had seen Ai before, as he was going on with introducing all of the zombie girls.

"Over here," Kotaro said as he casually pointed at the long black-haired zombie girl in the long-sleeved black outfit, "We have the legendary Tae Yamada." Sakura was a bit…underwhelm to be honest by the lack of 'oomph' that Kotaro had put into Tae's introduction, especially when it was compared to the introductions of the other zombie girls. Speaking of, Kotaro went on with introducing the remaining three zombie girls to her.

Pointing to the zombie girl with the fiery red hair in twin braided pigtails other than her face-framing bangs, Kotaro said, "This is the legendary half-foreigner who commanded Einherjar, a kamikaze squad that saw no equal in its heyday! Sigrid Aesirson!" Sakura was a bit interested when Kotaro mentioned that this Sigrid girl was half-foreign; does that mean she's half Japanese and half some other nationality? The long-haired undead girl was getting some Nordic vibes from Sigrid, so maybe one of the Scandinavian countries?

"Right over here we have another key player who will bring the 'Saga Stories' project to fruition!" Kotaro declared as he gestured to the soaked-looking zombie girl with the straight black hair, "The legendary teen actress prodigy, Ayumu Akarui!" Sakura, when she heard Ayumu's name spoken aloud, was struck with another bout of déjà vu, as if she had either seen the teen actress before or otherwise heard of her.

But that was something else for another time, as Kotaro pointed to the last zombie girl, the pale-faced one with the long light brownish hair. "Arcades all over trembled when this girl walked in to score some new prizes," Kotaro said, "She's the legendary gamer girl! Hikari Kyokutan!" Sakura gave a look of consideration to Hikari, feeling as if there was something important about this girl. …But then again, there was something important about _all_ of these girls, Sakura herself included. Otherwise, would all of them have been raised from the dead as zombies?

Clapping his hands together, Kotaro said, "Well okay, then! That takes care of the introductions! Now then ladies, do any of you have any questions?" After Kotaro had asked this, Sakura looked around, an expression of mild wonder as she observed the other nine girls still shambling about like mindless undead. "…No?" the eccentric man said in a questioning tone before continuing in a regular tone, "Well then, I guess that mean that we can get on with the beginning parts of the 'Saga Stories' project, which will begin with-"

"Umm, excuse me, Kotaro-san," Sakura said nervously as she raised a hand, interrupting Kotaro in the process, "But I have a few questions, actually."

Stopping midsentence where Sakura had cut him off at, Kotaro turned to face the long-haired zombie girl. Pointing at her, Kotaro said, "The other girls will all awaken on their own after something stimulates them, I haven't thought of what you're legendary for yet, and Tae doesn't have to have something special to be legendary."

"I…" Sakura replied, "…Was just going to ask about what's going to be done with the other girls here. I'm not too focused on the whole 'legendary' thing that you were going on about." Straightening up a bit, Sakura continued, "In fact, I'm not so sure why you put so much effort into the whole 'legendary' bit anyway."

"We need legends to help boost the selling power of each episode of 'Saga Stories' that the men and I produce!" Kotaro declared loudly and boastfully as he quickly clapped his hands, which he held off to the side.

"The…" Sakura replied in a mix of tentativeness and mild confusion, "…Men?"

* * *

To Sakura's surprise, Kotaro had a few more men helping out with the 'Saga Stories' project. Similar to Kotaro, all of the men had no issue with working with a group of ten girls that were all zombies; from this, Sakura gathered that they were in cahoots with Kotaro. Sakura watched as two of the men set up one of the rooms in the abandoned mansion to be a set for a scene in the first episode of this 'Saga Stories' show that they were producing.

Sakura was further surprised that Kotaro was so excellent at applying makeup that he was able to gussy her up to look like she did when she was a living breathing human being. Sakura was rather amazed with her appearance when she looked at herself in the mirror; she looked as if she hadn't aged a day from the moment she died. "I…" Sakura said aloud, "…I look alive."

"Then continue looking alive, Sakura," Kotaro said as he came walking up to her, the zombie Japanese Chin following after him on foot. When she turned to face Kotaro, Sakura was tossed a script by the eccentric man. With a slight smirk on his face, Kotaro said, "You're rather lucky, as you're going to get the series premiere episode more or less to yourself." Gesturing to Sakura with his right hand, Kotaro asked, "Are you ready to become an actress?"

Sakura still couldn't believe that she, even after dying over eleven years ago, was going to get to realize her dream of becoming an actress. With a small but confident smile on her face, Sakura nodded in the affirmative as she said, "I'll do my best, Kotaro-san!" A hint of confusion entered her expression as the long-haired zombie girl asked, "Umm, what is the first episode about, if you don't mind me asking?"

"In the first episode," Kotaro spoke as he began to explain, "Your character, having just moved to Saga after finding work as a waitress at a diner, is very scared with living on her own, so much so that she has nightmares that some of her neighbors are zombies." When Kotaro finished his explanation, Sakura had a feeling that the other nine zombie girls, who unlike her weren't yet self-aware, would be playing the role of the 'zombie neighbors' in the nightmare sequence that would occur in the first episode.

Remembering how she ran away in fright when she woke up in that room with the other nine girls, the long-haired zombie girl had a feeling that she would be able to sell acting frightened because she thought that she was surrounded by the undead. However, a pertinent question came up in her mind. Raising her hand, Sakura asked, "Umm, is that all that will be happening in the episode, or will the other girls have to act normally near the end?"

"I'm confident that the other girls will awaken with the stimulation of acting in the first episode," Kotaro replied, "And when they awaken, we'll be able to finish up the last of the filming and get the first episode on the airwaves."

"But what if none of the other girls awaken in time?" Sakura asked. Kotaro and Sakura kept eye contact for a good ten seconds uninterrupted, as if the silence between the two of them was all the buffer in the world.

However, Kotaro suddenly started clapping quickly as he said, "Get into position, everyone! We got a series premiere to film!"

As everyone involved in production for 'Saga Stories' rushed to get everything ready, Sakura, who was dragged along by one of the men that was in cahoots with Kotaro, could not help but feel a bit exasperated by some of the lack of foresight on the eccentric man's part. "…_Oh well_, _it could be worse_," the long-haired zombie girl thought as she was put into position, "_At least I still get to realize my dream of becoming an actress_."

* * *

Sakura was sitting alone in a living room, reading a book. From the look of the window that showed what was outside, it was nighttime. Sakura sighed to herself as she flipped the page in her book, a look of worry on her face. "I still can't believe that I'm living on my own now," Sakura said aloud with a hint of worry in her tone, "I bet mom is so worried about me all the way back in Akita. She probably thinks I'll run into some scary people over here in Sa-"

*THUD*

Sakura jumped when she heard the thudding sound just now. "What was that?" There was another similar thudding sound just moments after the first, making Sakura jump a bit in her skin again. From the sound of it, the thudding was coming from her front door. Tentatively, Sakura walked towards her front door, but right before she opened it, the door was busted down by Saki and Sigrid, both not dressed up like Sakura thus showing that they were zombies.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Sakura screamed in alarm, "My neighbors are zombies!" Sakura quickly turned to run away from her zombie neighbors, hoping that she would be able to escape though the sliding glass door that led to the little backyard of her apartment. When Sakura ran through, she was startled when Lily and Ayumu, also not dressed up to look human thus showing their undead selves, fell over the fence and into the little backyard. Sakura screamed again as she nimbly ran around the two zombie girls that laid on the ground.

Sakura ran further and further as she avoided all of her neighbors who were zombies; she ran past Junko, Ai, Yugiri and Hikari as they stumbled in trying to go after her, and she had to run for it when Tae actually tried to run after her, as if on predator instinct. "Oh god!" Sakura yelled with something of a (practiced) accent, "If this is some sort of nightmare, then I hope to god that I wake up really-"

"Aaaaaaaand cut!" Kotaro's voice called out, bringing everything to a halt. Sakura looked over to where Kotaro sat in a director's chair. The eccentric man got up and clapped in applause as he walked over to Sakura. "Well done, Sakura, well done!" Kotaro congratulated, "Now all we have to do is gather the other girls and then get you to the bedroom set so we can film the scene where you suddenly wake up in bed from the nightmare. It's a simple scene with little action going on, so it shouldn't prove to be a challenge to a girl of your surprising talents!"

Nodding once in an appreciative manner, Sakura replied, "Thanks, Kotaro-san." Since there had to be some setup before Sakura could act out the part in the wake up from nightmare scene that Kotaro was talking about, Sakura was told that she had about an hour of free time to rest a bit. She was still on a bit of an adrenalin rush from getting to act for a scene in a show that was going to air (if zombies like Sakura _were_ capable of having adrenalin rushes, that is), but Sakura felt that she had to do _that_.

…

_That_ ended up seeing Sakura sitting on a little armed bench on a patio located on one of the upper floors of the abandoned mansion, writing in a little journal that she had acquired. She wrote about all of her experiences since she woke up in that room with the other zombie girls. To be honest, Sakura was doing this because, for the (un)life of her, she could not remember even one bit of her life since before she woke up as a zombie. Sakura figured that if she wrote down all of her experiences, then it would help her to better remember what she goes through from this point moving-

"Ahhhh!" a female voice cried out in a mix of alarm and confusion, mostly confusion; the voice sounded like it belonged to a girl who was rough and ready to tumble. "What the fuck is all of this supposed to be?" the same female voice demanded, now more confused, as well as a little on the pissed off side, than alarmed. When she heard the female voice call out, Sakura had a feeling that she knew what was going on.

"I would be hearing an explanation from someone myself!" a second female voice called out, sounding reminiscent of large and mighty Viking warriors from a northern land of snow and cold, "What manner of sorcery be this? Why do I find myself surrounded by draugr?!" As the voices of some of Kotaro's men started talking up in an attempt to get the alarmed girls that had spoken up just now to calm down, Sakura, who conveniently enough finished writing in her little journal, got up and went back inside to see what was going on.

The scene that she walked in on was not all that much of a surprise to the long-haired zombie girl; a lot of the zombie girls were freaking out, as if they were regular humans who were finding themselves in a situation not unlike what Sakura found herself in a few nights ago. As such, Sakura could relate to what her fellow undead were going through right now. Sakura noticed that Tae was still acting like a mindless undead, but she figured that the black-dressed zombie girl would awaken later on by herself.

As some of the zombie girls saw Sakura enter, Saki pointed accusingly at her. "Oh, well this is just great!" Saki snapped, sounding more annoyed than anything else, "There's another one!"

"You are lucky that I do not have Ulfberht on hand, foul draugr," Sigrid swore as she pointed at Sakura, "Otherwise I would have sent not just you straight back to Helheim, but all of the other draugr that are here!" Sakura, from what she could guess, thought that Sigrid was referring to the zombie girls as 'draugr'. It struck Sakura as kind of funny in an ironic sense that the half-foreign girl was unaware that she herself was a 'draugr', as she's calling the other zombies.

"Can someone please tell me what the heck is going on here?!" Lily cried in a clearly panicked tone, her outside heart thing beating slowly as what looked to be some sort of ooze seeped from the couple of cuts on its surface.

As the other zombie girls (aside from the unawakened Tae) began to ask what was going on and/or freak the hell out, Sakura sighed to herself before inhaling as much as she can, something that she found herself surprised to be able to do given that drawing in breath was something that only the living can do. At the top of her lungs, Sakura yelled at her fellow zombie girls, "Good morning everyone! Welcome to Saga prefecture!"

END, SAGA STORIES CHAPTER ONE

Author's notes:

This has been the first chapter of 'Saga Stories: a tale of Zombie Land Saga'. I'm actually rather fond of the series, which is partly why I was glad when I heard that there would be a season two. I've seen a few Zombie Land Saga fics on the site before, and after milling an idea I had in my head around for a bit, I decided to start with writing one of my own. As such, this story ended up being written.

In case it wasn't all that clear, this story is meant to be an AU of the series proper. Although the goal Kotaro has with the zombie girls, that being to save Saga prefecture, remains unchanged, there are still a good number of changes that are present in this story. What's probably the most prominent change is the fact that the zombie girls, instead of being formed into an idol group, are being made to act on a slice-of-life sitcom TV show that airs weekly.

Other changes include some choices in outfit for some of the girls (Sakura more prominently in this regard), the fact that there are now _ten_ zombie girls instead of just seven (more on Sigrid, Ayumu and Hikari later), Romero's breed being changed, and the fact that some details concerning the causes of death for some of the base seven zombie girls have been changed, such as Sakura getting hit with a bluish van rather than a white truck; Lily and Ai are both implied to have slightly different causes of death when compared to what they respectively have in the series proper (that will be explored later).

Anyway, with the zombie girls being actress instead of idols, the plots of a lot of chapters will be different when compared to counterparts from the series proper. But then again, that's one of the beauties of an AU story. I'll also get to work on outfit changes for some of the other zombie girls, the new ones especially. I have a few ideas in mind, but if any of you have any ideas for either Ayumu or Hikari, I would love to hear them. And if there are any questions, I would be glad to address them, but please try to keep things as respectful as possible. I am a respectful guy myself, and if similar courtesy is afforded to me, then you will find that I am a rather easy person to work with.

Catch you all in the next chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Zombie Land Saga, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Saga Stories: A tale of Zombie Land Saga

Chapter two: Well they have certainly found themselves in a _grave_ situation

Sakura Minamoto found herself sitting around in one of the rooms in the abandoned mansion that Kotaro and his men have taken to using as the base of operations for their scheme involving the production of 'Saga Stories', a slice-of-life sitcom TV show that they're producing for their ultimate end goal of saving the Saga prefecture. Sakura, who had in truth actually died back in early to mid-2008, was brought back from the dead as a zombie, albeit she was gussied up thanks to Kotaro's flawless skills in applying makeup to make her look like a living girl when she acted in her scenes for the series premiere.

Sakura was not the _only_ girl who was raised from the dead as a zombie for this 'save Saga prefecture' plan of Kotaro's; there were nine other zombies girls such as her. Saki, Ai, Junko, Lily, Yugiri, Tae, Sigrid, Ayumu and Hikari all sat around in the same room that Sakura was in. Aside from Tae, who was acting somewhat like a mindless beast acting on instinct, all of the zombie girls, including Sakura herself, had 'awakened'. What this means is that they all had their minds and wills again, not acting like mindless undead like Tae and instead acting like regular girls that were both alive and breathing.

"So…" Hikari remarked slowly as she carefully looked at her hands, slowly turning them so that her red eyes can look at the grayish-blue skin, "…This is what being a zombie is like." Lowering her hands to rest on her lap, Hikari remarked in a more or less casual tone, "I guess that zombie shooter game I played at one of the arcades I went to had everything wrong."

As the zombie gamer girl spoke, she brushed a lock of her long light brownish hair to tuck it behind her ear so that it wasn't in the way; in addition to the long light brownish hair, Hikari had a slim yet healthy (if zombies could be considered 'healthy') build and freckles under her eyes. Hikari wore a baggy long-sleeved sweatshirt whose neck hole exposed the tops of her shoulders (this sweatshirt had a cream-colored body and light lavender sleeves), a pair of studded cargo shorts that were gray in color, a pair of slightly baggy socks, and a pair of brown shoes.

"I will admit, I was at first a bit unsettled upon waking up and realizing that I am now what is known as a 'living dead'," Yugiri remarked in an oddly at ease tone for someone saying that they were unsettled, "But after some of the guys working for that Kotaro fellow, as well as Kotaro himself, explained a few things to us, I'm thinking that things could have been far worse. At least I no longer have to worry about fellows such as…_him_."

"Since we're all zombies now," Lily began, sounding like she was trying to make the best of the situation, "That means we'll never age, right?" After Sakura, Junko and Ai all nodded in agreement with Lily, finding her logic to be sound, the young zombie girl smiled brightly. "Then in that case, I don't see what the big deal is," Lily went on, "I mean, we're going to stay as we are forever! Personally, I'm rather liking the idea of staying small and cute for-"

Lily was cut off when Sigrid slammed the surface of the floor that she and the other zombie girls sat on so hard, that the noise made Lily flinch; similarly, Ayumu not only flinched but also put both of her hands over her ears, as if the volume of Sigrid's fist slam was painful to her. "This is an outrage!" the half-foreign zombie girl barked, "I distinctly remember taking part in a glorious battle in which I perished. I had earned my reward of ascending to Valhalla to feast and dine at the side of the gods themselves before we took part in Ragnarök! And yet I was spirited away from such honor, returned here to Midgard as a draugr!" Slamming her fist onto the floor once again, Sigrid snapped, "An outrage, I say!"

"Yeah, I'm going to have to side with Viking here," Saki remarked from where she stood, getting all of the other zombie girls to turn and face her; out of all of the zombie girls, Saki was the only one not seated in the room, either on an actual seat or on the floor. In her case, Saki was leaning against a wall, her arms crossed over her chest. Scoffing with a hint of annoyance in her tone, Saki continued, "I mean, did any of us even ask to come back as zombies? What are Shades and his little helper fairies even thinking, raising us girls from the dead to be actresses in this little show of theirs?"

Not wanting the bad vibes to continue, Sakura took the initiative to try and settle any and all disputes before they could arise. Standing up from where she sat on the floor, the long-haired zombie girl said with a hint of nervousness in her tone, "Umm, Saki-chan, you can at least appreciate that you're alive again. I mean, this is all something of a second chance for us, if you think about it. How many can claim that they have been dead for multiple years straight but then came back to the land of the living?"

Pointing a finger at Sakura, making her flinch slightly in the process due to how quick and sudden the finger pointing was, Saki snapped, "Exactly what I'm trying to get at her, Egghead! Dead for multiple years straight, which in my case I found out I've been dead for a little over twenty-two years!" Crossing her arms over her chest, the gang girl zombie scoffed as she turned her head to face away from the group as she muttered, "I bet that my Tamagotchi is long dead by this point. Such a shame, too. That little thing was kind of cute…"

"And why bring us back to be actresses?" Ai asked, "I mean, wouldn't it be more logical for us to at the very least be formed into an idol group?"

Nodding in agreement with her Heisei counterpart, Junko remarked, "I'd have to agree with her. Being idols would make a lot more sense if you ask me." With a look of consideration, the Showa idol zombie girl continued as she held her right hand over her chin, "…Although I'm rather used to working alone rather than as part of a group…"

With a shrug, Lily said with a hint of knowingness in her tone, "You two are just saying that because the both of you are idols and thus are more used to it. I just so happen to think that the lot of us being actresses, especially ones that will stay young and cute forever, is a much better idea in the long run."

Turning to look at the young zombie girl with an expression that held a bit of accusation, Junko remarked, "Well aren't both you and Ayumu former actresses? It would make sense that this plan of Kotaro's would appeal more to the both of you."

"Umm," Ayumu began, sounding just as (if not more so) timid as Sakura when the long-haired zombie girl began, "I didn't say any-"

"You hush your mouth," Junko scolded when she quickly turned to the teen actress zombie, interrupting Ayumu in the process and making her flinch and cower away a bit.

"Hey!" Lily snapped at the Showa idol zombie girl upon seeing her scold Ayumu in such a manner, "You leave Big Sis alone! She didn't do anything!"

"Well Junko _does_ have a point," Ai remarked, "Things are looking best for the two of you, and I'm seriously doubting that the rest of us here are in any mood to hear any biased defense from either you or Ayumu."

Raising a hand, Yugiri said with a hint of scolding firmness in her tone, "I believe that you and Junko-san ought to be more open to this second chance that all of us here have been presented with. And I could tell that Ayumu-san was speaking with a valid defense in response to Junko-san's initial accusation towards her and Lily-chan, so Lily-chan's snapping at Junko-san seems to me to be valid."

Sigrid, with a mildly annoyed scowl on her face, remarked, "As much as I do not like the fact that I've just come to learn that I was spirited from my rightly earned spot in Valhalla, I'm going to have to agree with the harlot draugr on this one. The white-haired draugr's scoldings towards the soaked draugr have no just bearing in my opinion." Crossing her arms over her chest, the half-foreign zombie girl continued, "If I were the chieftain here, then I would have ordered silence from the white-haired draugr for interrupting her soaked counterpart, and then allow said counterpart to continue."

"Yeah, that drenched-looking girl looked like she was trying to say that she didn't say anything along the lines of being thankful we're going to be actresses over idols," Saki remarked over from where she stood leaning against the wall, "Sigrid has a point on how we should have given that girl a chance to finish speaking her bit first so we could hear her out before someone like Junko jumped down her throat for no good reason."

"Oh sure," Junko said in a mildly sarcastic tone, clearly sounding annoyed that she seemed to be on the losing side of the argument, "Agree to go along with something that eight out the ten of us have no experience with!"

"Uhh, news flash," Saki said as she turned on Junko, "Eight out of ten of us have no experience with being idols either."

"Which is why I am sure Junko will agree with me when I say that we can show the rest of you girls how to about the business," Ai remarked, drawing a nod of agreement from her white-haired Showa counterpart.

Scoffing in response, Hikari said to both zombie idol girls, "And you two both think that Lily and Ayumu can't show us how to go about being actresses?" Gesturing over to where Sakura sat, Hikari continued, "Not to mention Sakura over here, who did most of the acting for the first episode on her own until most of us awakened." The zombie gamer girl had a point; Sakura _did_ do most of the acting for the series premiere episode of 'Saga Stories', and when the other girls (Tae being the exception here) awakened, Ayumu and Lily, both gussies up to look human, acted in the last scene of the episode, a tail end scene to confirm for viewers that Sakura's character's dream was just that, a dream.

Gesturing to Ai and Junko, Hikari continued, "Lily and Ayumu are both experienced, and Sakura has shown that she can keep up with the job."

"Are you serious?" Ai nearly exclaimed, "You actually _think_ that this whole business of being actresses is a good idea? Do you know what kind of dangers actresses can face?!" As Ai's little spat there began getting most off the other girls arguing amongst themselves, Saki, who refrained from the arguing for the most part, was the only one who saw a hint of alarmed fear in the Heisei idol zombie girl's eyes, especially when said girl mentioned 'dangers actresses can face'.

Right when the arguing reached a fever pitch, the noise of which made Ayumu cover her ears again, Sakura let out a loud, distracting whistle, getting all of the other zombie girls to turn and look at her. Even the unawakened Tae turned to regard her, although she did so in a manner such as a dog heading towards the direction of someone who whistled for it to some over. Once all eyes were on her, Sakura calmly inhaled before she began speaking to her audience.

"…Look girls," Sakura began, a hint of firmness in her tone, "I know that this is a rather sudden thing that the lot of us have been thrusted into. Even I'm still having some reservations about being an actress in this show that Kotaro-san and his men are trying to produce. But the fact of the matter remains unchanged. We all died at various points over time, we were all brought back as zombies, and we're all being made to act in this show. If you ask me, we might as well suck it up and just roll with the punches."

The other zombie girls all looked at the one among their number with dark rose-colored long hair for a few seconds, none of them saying anything. After a bit, both Ai and Junko looked like they were about to say something, but before either of them could get a single word out, they were both cut off when there was some clapping. All of the girls turned to look in the appropriate direction, and as they all saw, it was Kotaro the eccentric man, with that Japanese Chin zombie following him on foot as always, who was clapping.

Gesturing to where Sakura was standing, the eccentric man said, "She raises a very excellent point, girls. So what if a lot of you aren't happy with the fact that you're going to be acting in the show that I'm producing? You're all back in the land of the living. Not everyone can claim to have died and stayed that way for some length of time, then come back as if nothing changed." With a bit of a chuckle, Kotaro added, "Except with the fact that you girls are all now zombies. But I digress." Pointing to all of the zombie girls as a whole, Kotaro said, "The first episode of 'Saga Stories' just hit the air waves, and the response is booming!"

"We already got a response for that show?" Junko remarked, her tone and expression both showing that the Showa idol zombie girl was skeptical.

"Yeah, I don't believe it," Ai said, her tone showing that she agreed with Junko.

Shrugging indifferently, Kotaro said, "It's not like someone who is brand spanking new to the business of producing a TV show would understand how viewership works." Kotaro pulled out a smartphone, used it to get online, and surfed the web until he found what he was looking for. "This here," the eccentric producer began to explain, "It a _Tweeter_ feed where a lot of people are commenting on the series premiere of 'Saga Stories'."

Kotaro then turned the smartphone around to show the zombie girls what was on it. Sure enough, they all saw many people's remarks, practically all of which had nothing but praise for the first episode, even though it was mostly just Sakura acting (not that anyone who saw the series premiere was aware that, outside of the tail end scene where Lily and Ayumu were acting, all of the other girls were acting while unawakened);

_Frostymom69_

_I watched the series premiere with my son Shoto while he was visiting me at the hospital that I'm staying at, and we both loved it! Now he's changing his visiting schedule so that we can watch new episodes together every week. We now have something that helps us repair our damaged parent/child bond._

_Catlover420_

_First episode was awesome! The part where the girl was running from those zombie neighbors in her dream was really heart pounding! Hopefully her character won't have nightmares anymore. Hope next week's episode is just as great, if not more so!_

_Osakagirl16_

_I understand how being nervous when moving to a new place can feel, given that I moved from my home in Osaka a while ago. The main girl in the first episode is very easy for me to relate to, and I hope that she'll be showing up in more episodes as they come out. I have it marked on my calendar when next week's new episode drops!_

After taking his smartphone back, Kotaro said as he exited the app he was using, "And those are just some of the many examples of how you girls, despite the very little experience that most of you have, will soar into stardom as actresses set to save Saga." Slipping his smartphone back into his pocket that he got it out of, Kotaro continued, "Anyway, all of you girls follow me. We need to head down to the one dance room that was set up as an aerobics studio for some training."

"Training?" Sakura repeated in a curious tone as she and the other zombie girls that were still sitting slowly got to their feet; seeing the others get up, Tae took it as a cue to get up herself, not wanting to be left behind.

Nodding in confirmation, Kotaro replied, "Yes, Sakura. Training." Pointing to all of the zombie girls as a whole, the eccentric man began to explain, "The reason why Sakura, Lily and Ayumu were able to pull off looking like living humans in the series premiere is because of my genius skills in applying makeup. However, as you girls are all zombies, a race of monsters, you are all capable of learning a basic glamour power that will allow you change your appearance so that you look human."

Pounding his right fist into his left hand Kotaro said, "The lot of you girls will be learning how to master this glamour power so as to save money in the budget. We're going to the aforementioned aerobics room as there's enough space there for all of you to spread out and practice learning the glamour power. For those of you who don't quite get it down pat by the time that you're needed to act out a scene in the second episode, don't worry, we still have more than enough costume makeup to make you pass for living. But don't go letting that lull you into thinking that you don't have to master the glamour power. Makeup costs a lot of money, and until we start seeing a respectable return on the show, our budget for makeup will be limited."

"Umm, question," Hikari began, raising a hand and prompting Kotaro to turn and face her, "But how do you know so much about this? And what do you mean when you said that bit about how 'zombies are a race of monster'? Do you mean to tell me that there are more kinds of monsters out there, such as vampires and werewolves, maybe even a dragon?"

Kotaro just stood there, looking right at Hikari in silence for a few seconds. Suddenly, Kotaro began clapping his hands very quickly while holding them slightly off to the side as he loudly exclaimed, "Come on, girls! Get to the aerobics room for glamour power practice! We don't have a moment to waste! GO, GO, GO, GO, GO!" Sakura and the other nine zombie girls were all caught off guard by Kotaro's sudden energy, although the long-haired zombie girl was less surprised as she had seen such behavior from Kotaro at least once before. Even so, none of this stopped the eccentric man from corralling all of the zombie girls out of the room that they were all in and over to the aerobics room for the 'training' that he was talking about.

* * *

A short while later, Sakura and the other zombie girls found themselves in a dance studio-esque room, where some of the men that were cahoots with Kotaro were instructing the zombie girls (aside from the unawakened Tae, who was kept occupied by Kotaro shoving a bit of dried squid snack into her mouth) in using the glamour power that Kotaro was talking about earlier, which was called monster glamour.

"Imagine a glowing sphere-shaped mass of energy deep inside of yourself," the man instructing Sakura, about the same age as Kotaro but had long black hair, said as he instructed her, "Use your will to draw from this mass, then visualize yourself as a human. The visualization and the drawing of energy will work in tandem, eventually merging into a single action that will allow you to use monster glamour far quicker in later uses."

Nodding once in understanding, Sakura said, "Got it." Closing her eyes, the long-haired zombie girl breathed in and out slowly (although she no longer needs to breathe to live, being a zombie and all, Sakura found that she was still capable of breathing to an extent) as she visualized the mass of energy the man was talking about in her mind. It was a goldish colored mass of swirling energy that, if it were a material thing in the real world, would be about the size of a basketball.

Sakura then visualized herself standing next to this energy mass, and that both were in a black void together. Sakura visualized herself reaching out to the mass, her palms facing it, as she tried willing the energy to come to her. "_Come to me_," Sakura thought in her mind, putting a lot of effort into concentration on this exercise. The long-haired zombie girl then began to see the mass of energy shift shape, with a tendril coming from it floating right towards Sakura. When the tendril reached her and started covering her in a glow of energy, Sakura then visualized herself as how she looked back when she was still a living human girl.

While all of that was going on in Sakura's mind, Sakura in the waking world began to slowly lighten up in her skin tone, with the men working with the zombie girls watching on as the long-haired zombie girl's skin shifted from grayish-blue to a healthy-looking, living skin tone; there also seemed to be a bit of luster returning to Sakura's hair as well. After Sakura's appearance had finished changing, she still had her eyes closed, as she was still concentrating. However, she was brought out of her concentration by clapping applause from Kotaro.

Looking over where Kotaro stood, Sakura saw the eccentric man clapping as he was looking right at her. "Bravo, Sakura!" Kotaro remarked, his tone carrying a decent hint of amusement, "You are the first of the girls to have successfully used monster glamour to make yourself appear to be human. Take a look in the mirror behind you if you don't believe me."

"Ehh?" Sakura said in a confused tone as she turned around. To her surprise, Sakura saw how she looked in the mirror; she looked as she did the day she died, right before she ran out of the house to go to her audition to become an actress. The long-haired zombie girl couldn't believe that the living-looking girl that she was looking at in the mirror was her; she even held her right hand up to her face as she poked herself in the cheek. Sure enough, her counterpart in the mirror did exactly the same.

"I…" Sakura said, the realization having just hit her even though she still had trouble believing it, "…I look human."

"Hot damn, Egghead!" Saki remarked in a tone that was a mix of amused and impressed, "You got it down quicker than the rest of us!" Turning to face where Kotaro stood, Saki said, "Shades, you're saying that we can do what she just did?"

Kotaro, when he turned to face Saki, nodded once in the affirmative. "Just do as my men here are instructing you, and soon you will be able to master the use of monster glamour, so that I don't have to use my makeup skills to make you look human, like what I had to do for Sakura, as well as Lily and Ayumu, to make them look human for the series premiere."

"Yeah, I saw that episode," Saki replied, a hint of annoyance in her tone, "Geez, I still can't believe that you had the gall to use me and the other girls like that while we were still mindless." Gently shaking her head, the zombie biker girl continued, "But still, if this 'monster glamour' skill that you're talking about will make me look as human as Sakura and the others did with that makeup job, then count me in!"

The next few hours were spent by the zombie girls practicing the use of monster glamour. Sakura was the first of the girls to master it, as she was able to activate and deactivate it at will with a speed that was more or less instantaneous. Having seen Sakura master the power drove the other zombie girls onwards, fueling their desire to be able to make themselves look human once more. After the end of the session, Saki, Lily, Yugiri, Sigrid, Ayumu and Hikari had mastered monster glamour as well as Sakura. This left Ai, Junko and Tae as the only ones who still had to rely on the makeup skills of Kotaro to look human.

"I honestly did not expect any of you to have mastered using monster glamour by the end of the first day of practice, to be completely honest," Kotaro began, "So color me impressed that seven out of ten of you have mastered the power in a day. That being said…" The eccentric man then turned his attention to the two idol zombie girls. "Ai, Junko, you both disappoint me," Kotaro began, "I can understand that Tae, who is still unawakened, could not master the use of monster glamour. But the two of you are both awakened, same as the rest of your companions here. You could have at least gotten the initial use taken care of today."

Ai and Junko, both still annoyed with a number of things, were both reaching their respective wits' end, and this last bit of shaming from Kotaro was starting to set both of them off. "Why am I even here anyway?!" Junko snapped, her brow furrowed a bit, "It's bad enough that the last thing I remember before waking up as a zombie was that I was fleeing from overeager fans and the paparazzi in a car. But now I'm not only a zombie, but I have to do something that I wasn't trained to do? Just where do you get off?!"

Junko did not even give Kotaro a chance to respond (not that he was actually going to respond to the Showa idol zombie girl snapping at him, mind you) before she turned around and stormed out of the dance studio. Ai, although she did not say a word, gave Kotaro a look similar to that which Junko had just given the man before she turned around as well to follow Junko out of the room, leaving the other zombie girls having a mix of reactions.

Sakura, Lily and Ayumu all had panicking expressions, freaking out over the friction that had just cropped out. Yugiri paid the two zombie idol girls no mind as she pulled out a long pipe from the Meiji era and began to take a drag from it. Tae just sat off in the corner, mindlessly chewing on a piece of dried squid snack as she was unaware of what was going on. Both Saki and Sigrid crossed their arms over their chests, looks of mild annoyance on both of their faces.

"They act like children who aren't getting their way," Sigrid remarked indifferently about Junko and Ai, "Or were likewise just told no. Their little temper tantrum here puts them both at a level lower than the little one, who is actually a child yet has thus far behaved herself better than the both of those idol draugr combined."

"Yeah, those two are both being total drags right now," Saki remarked, her tone showing that she agreed with the zombie girl who, like herself, used to be a kamikaze gang member.

Seeing the two gang zombie girls off to the side talking to each other, Hikari walked over to them and asked, "What are you girls talking about?"

"Just how that Ai and Junko were acting more childish than Shrimpy, who is actually a child," Saki replied. Giving the zombie gamer girl a curious look, Saki said, "By the way, Hikari, way to go with mastering this glamour power second out of all of us girls here."

With a mildly self-amused look on her face, Hikari replied, "Well the fact that we were all doing training to master a new power reminded me a lot of some of the anime that I would watch back when I was still alive, what with how the protagonists of said anime would train to learn a new power of some kind. I was into anime and manga almost as much as, if not just as much as, video games and the like."

"Heh," Saki chuckled, amusement in her tone, "I guess that being an otaku has paid off for you."

Hikari, recognizing the playful jab, merely smiled in amusement of her own. "Yes, I guess that it did," the zombie gamer girl replied. Hikari turned to look in the direction that Junko and Ai both stormed off in. "…I guess that what happened just now is a thing as well," Hikari went on as her small smile turned to a small frown, her tone sounding mildly worried, "But then again, I guess it is to be expected. I mean, those girls are probably still reeling from the shock of having returned from beyond the grave, and they're taking things out on the rest of us here. I hope that someone here is able to make a breakthrough with Ai and Junko. Otherwise…" Gently shaking her head, the zombie gamer girl added, "…I'm not sure what will be done with them."

Pounding a fist into her hand, Saki sneered, "Feh, we just have to knock some sense into those two is all. Show them who's the head honcho around here. They'll fall in line soon enough once one of us asserts dominance over them." With a self-amused smirk, the delinquent zombie girl added as she jerked a thumb at her chest, "It wouldn't have been the first time that I had to show someone their place."

"I can always send them back to Helheim," Sigrid offered casually.

Hikari was a bit alarmed at the violent plannings of the two former kamikaze gang girls; she wasn't quite sure what exactly Sigrid meant by what she said, but the zombie gamer girl felt that Sigrid's plan should be shelved either way. Briskly shaking her head, Hikari said, "I was hoping that we could get Ai and Junko to settle down without having to resort to violence. After all, it wouldn't look good for the show if word got out that there was a physical altercation between at least three of the leading actresses."

Both Saki and Sigrid sighed in resigned tones, with Saki adding, "Fine, we'll try to come up with something non-violent." With a look of annoyed consideration on her face, Saki continued, "My bet is that Egghead can make a breakthrough, or something."

"Egghead?" Hikari repeated, sounding confused.

In response, Saki pointed with her right index finger over to where some of the other zombie girls were talking amongst themselves; it was a group consisting of Sakura, Lily, Yugiri and Ayumu, with Lily looking up at and talking to Ayumu while wearing an expression that one would wear when meeting someone who's a big inspiration to you. To Hikari's interest, Saki was pointing right at Sakura.

"…Sakura over there," the delinquent zombie girl said in an explanatory tone, "Her head kind of reminds me of my old Tamagotchi, which was egg-shaped. Thusly, I have taken to referring to Sakura as Egghead."

"Ah," Hikari relied as she nodded once to show that she understood what Saki was getting at with her explanation.

* * *

A few minutes after Ai and Junko stormed out of the dance studio, they were gathered up by some of Kotaro's men. Once they were gathered, Ai and Junko, along with Tae, were all given the makeup treatment to make them look like living humans, as they had not yet mastered the monster glamour power. Once all of the zombie girls were looking alive, Kotaro explained to them that an effort to spread the word of 'Saga Stories' was needed, or at least wouldn't hurt.

As such, they were going to attend an open-mic performance at an old performance center that was in Saga Castle. The performance center's audience was filled mainly with seniors, who came to watch whatever it was that the performers that came to the open-mic show were going to do. Kotaro, who was backstage with the zombie girls, peeked from off to the side of the stage to see who all was out in the audience. With a self-satisfied smirk on his face, the eccentric man said, "Hoo boy, look at all of those people out there. No doubt that word of 'Saga Stories' will be spreading like wildfire after this open-mic performance."

Kotaro noticed that there a few young adults in the audience, scattered here and there; he figured that they were here with at least one of their respective grandparents. Kotaro also spotted a pair of guys, one tall and slender and one somewhat short and well-fed, who looked like they were both dressed to go to a rock concert or something. Kotaro felt that those two guys, out of all the possible people in the world, were a bit out of place in such a setting. But hey, it's not like he's exactly going to turn down free advertisement via word of mouth, and that means that the more mouths out there spreading the word of 'Saga Stories', the better.

Saki, who snuck a peek into the audience, felt a bit confused. "Ehh?" Saki said with a mildly confused hint in her tone, "Why are we here to perform for a bunch of old geezers? And what the hell is it that we're supposed to be doing to entertain them anyway? Charades or whatever?" Crossing her arms over her chest, Saki scoffed, "I didn't sign up for this exactly."

"I figured that you girls could do some improv comedy," Kotaro replied, "The open-mic night poster never said that only music performers were going to be allowed to take part, although if any of you girls sings a song, hey, more power to you." Turning to face all of the zombie girls, Kotaro said, "Alright, ladies! Who here is ready to give the good folks out there a good time and tell them about 'Saga Stories' at the same time?"

Yugiri, a hint of amused seductiveness in her tone, remarked, "Oh my, we're here to entertain people? Then we ought to do our best to give them the best service that we can."

"We're here as minstrels, not harlots," Sigrid scoffed at the courtesan zombie girl, her tone sounding like the half-foreign zombie girl was not all that amused, or is otherwise fond of, her courtesan counterpart, "Keep it in your pants."

Lily, with a confused look on her face, turned her head to look up at Ayumu. "Hey, Big Sis," the child actress zombie girl said to her teen counterpart, "What's a harlot? Also, what does Sigrid mean when she told Yugiri just now to keep it in her pants?"

"Lily," Ayumu replied in a tone that sounded honestly baffled, "I am just as lost as you are." Ayumu turned her attention to Sakura and, when she saw Ayumu turn to look at Sakura, Lily did the same. "Hey, Sakura," the teen actress zombie girl began, "What's a harlot, and what does one mean when they tell someone to keep it in their pants?"

Unlike with both of the youthful zombie actresses, Sakura seemed to have a pretty good idea about what the meaning of what the topic was. However, there was an embarrassed look on her face, as well as some similarly embarrassed blushing. "I, umm, well, you see," Sakura tried to say, stammering a bit every so often out of embarrassment, "The thing is, well, umm, why don't I tell you both later?" The tone of Sakura's voice made it clear that she hoped that both Lily and Ayumu would drop the subject. Luckily for Sakura, they both did, which prompted Sakura to breathe a sigh of relief.

…

Without much further fanfare, the zombie girls were all out on stage. With a mix of Kotaro's skills in applying makeup and most of the zombie girls having mastered the use of monster glamour, no one freaked out as the girls all looked human. "Umm, hello, out there!" Sakura greeted the audience as she spoke into a microphone, "We're the cast of 'Saga Stories', the new show that premiered on TV a few days ago. We're here to do some live improv and to spread the word of our show, which you can catch every Sunday on channel seven, so don't forget to tune in to watch new episodes!"

The response from the audience, although not a standing ovation, did show that some of the people were interested in what Sakura and her co-stars were doing here. The long-haired zombie girl turned to the side and gestured for Lily and Ayumu to come over; Sakura chose the two former actresses because of their respective experience in acting. "My co-actresses here," Sakura went on as she gestured to Lily and Ayumu respectively, "Numbers six and seven, will act out a scene where six and seven play a child and her mother respectively visiting a store that is run by me. Now, I'm first going to need someone in the audience to provide a kind of store."

"Bath supplies store," an older lady sitting in the audience called out.

Nodding in agreement, Sakura said, "Good, a bath supplies store is good. Now, the next thing that I'm going to need is the store's location."

"Two blocks from U.A. High School," called out a mid-teens boy sitting in the audience; this boy had a short mess of fluffy dark green hair, he had some freckles on his face, and he wore a baggy t-shirt that said 't-shirt' plus a pair of cargo pants and a pair of red boots.

"Oh, that's the top hero high school in Japan," Sakura remarked as she pointed out into the audience in the general direction that suggestion came from, "Good choice." To the audience as a whole, Sakura said, "Now the last thing that I need is the person running the store."

"Zarbon from DBZ Abridged!" called out an adult woman who sat right next to the teen boy with green hair; this woman was a surprisingly youthful-looking middle-aged woman that had ash-blonde hair and red eyes, and she wore a white shirt under a purple dress shirt that was completely open in the front, a black skirt and a pair of slip-on shoes.

Sakura, with a confused look on her face, replied, "Umm, I'm not quite familiar with that one. Can I get another suggestion?"

"My ex-husband Masaru!" the same ashy-hired woman called out.

Nodding, Sakura said, "Divorced man it is! Now that my co-actresses and I have a store, a location and a person running the store, we can begin the improv." Sakura, Lily and Ayumu all quickly got into position, the process running smoothly due to the experience that Lily and Ayumu had as actresses and the bits of actress training Sakura had when she was alive.

Within a few seconds, the three zombie girls were ready to act out the scene while the other seven all waited back along the back edge of the stage; Tae, who was unawakened thus tended to do as her base instincts led her to do, was kept in place by Junko and Ai, both of which were given the duty of keeping Tae in check by Saki (i.e. she intimidated them into doing it). When they were ready, Lily and Ayumu walked towards where Sakura was waiting.

"Oh, hello and welcome to my bath supplies store," Sakura greeted Lily and Ayumu as they acted out the improv scene, "My name is Masaru. Is there anything that you're looking for?"

"Oh yes," Lily replied, "I was wondering if you had strawberry-scented bubble bath formula."

Nodding in the affirmative, Sakura said, "Oh yes, we have a variety of scented bubble bath formulas. As a matter of fact, my ex-wife's favorite scent is strawberry."

"No it's not! I like lemon best!" the ashy-haired woman shouted from the audience, "You see, this is one of the reasons why we got divorced in the first place, you spineless shit!" The teen boy sitting next to the woman turned to face her and whispered to her to please not heckle the live performers on stage at the moment.

Sakura, without breaking character or even showing that the heckling was getting to her, went on by saying, "If you'd like, I can show you to where I stock the scented bubble bath formulas." To Ayumu, Sakura asked, "Is there any scented bubble bath formulas that you are interested in?"

Ayumu, a somewhat noticeable look of mild panic on her face at the mention of the idea of her taking a bath, quickly shook her head in the negative. "No, I do showers over baths," Ayumu replied, "I have no need of anything for baths specifically forever."

"That's alright," Sakura replied to Ayumu, "We still carry a wide selection of body washes, shampoos and conditioners for whatever your bathing preferences may be."

The audience seemed to be enjoying what Sakura, Lily and Ayumu were doing thus far. One of the older men in the audience, who was holding a bag of dried squid snacks, remarked somewhat loudly, "Now you see, _this_ is quality live entertainment. I just wished there was more live improv like this performed closer to the retirement home." Due to this older man being loud enough, the other seven zombie girls, who sat with their backs to the wall on the floor at the back of the stage, were all able to hear him, with their attention turning to look at him. This meant that not only did Tae see him, but she also saw that he was eating dried squid snacks.

Seeing that most alluring (to zombies such as her, at least) foodstuff, Tae was unable to help herself as her undead instincts kicked in. Without caring that Junko and Ai both moved to try to keep her from getting up, the unawakened zombie tried making her way right over to that older man, intent on getting some of his dried squid snack.

Partway through the improv scene that Sakura, Lily and Ayumu were acting out, Tae got free from the hold of the two zombie idol girls, stood up and walked right towards the older man with the dried squid snacks. Seeing Tae so randomly get up and try to walk off stage, Sakura had to quickly move to keep a hold on her, grabbing the unawakened zombie girl by her left arm. "No, it's not your turn yet!" Sakura said as she struggled to pull Tae back, "You need to go sit back down until it's your turn to act!"

Try as she may, Sakura was unable to pull Tae back; in fact, the long-haired zombie girl pulled so hard that Tae's arm simply popped off from the rest of her, causing Tae to fall over face-first onto the stage. When her head hit the stage floor, it hit it with such force that Tae's head popped off as well, flew up a bit to the mixed reactions of Sakura (freaked out), Junko and Ai (annoyed), the other zombie girls (mildly wondering) and everyone else in the audience (just rolling with it) before the head flew at the older man with the dried squid snack, then landed on his arm where she was harmlessly gnawing on the bit of his shirt sleeve to keep hold.

The older man, surprisingly undisturbed to see a girl's head fly off, noticed that Tae's head was trying to reach forward to take a bite of some dried squid snack. With a mildly amused smile on his face, the older man said, "I'm guessing that you want some, right?" The older man reached into his bag of dried squid snack, pulled a piece out, then held it to Tae so that she could grab ahold of it with her teeth and begin to chew.

As Tae contently chewed away on her acquired piece of dried squid snack, Sakura moved quickly to retrieve Tae's head. "Umm…" Sakura said in something of a mild panic as she tried to think of how to explain to the audience that Tae's head came off but she was still alive (none of the audience members knew that the zombie girls _were_ zombies), "…This is the special power that number zero has! We all have superpowers!"

"You mean quirks?" the green-haired teen boy in the audience shouted over to Sakura.

"Yeah, sure, let's go with that!" Sakura replied right away. Sakura would have gone on to explain further, but she was cut off when she noticed that Tae's body had gotten up and was now running around. Turning to face the girls on stage, Sakura said, "Hey number two, catch!" as she threw Tae's head to Saki, who caught it rather handily. As Saki wondered aloud just what she and the other girls were going to do with their fellow zombie girl who was still unawakened, Sakura grabbed ahold of and began to drag Tae's moving body back onto the stage.

When she got Tae's body back there, Sakura retrieved Tae's head from Saki and stuck it back on. However, about the moment Sakura got Tae's head back on, to her and Saki's surprise, Junko came up and yanked Tae's head back off. "Number four, what is wrong with you?!" the long-haired zombie girl snapped at the Showa idol zombie girl, "The last thing we need to happen is for everyone here to freak out by showing them that number zero's body parts can detach from her body! Are you seriously that insane, or are-"

"Look out there," Junko said as she pointed out into the audience, drawing Sakura's attention to the fact that a lot of people in the audience were clapping in applause towards what they were seeing. The ashy-haired woman was even laughing a bit while the teen boy that was with her was writing something down in a notebook, muttering something about 'a quirk that allows the user to detach her body parts', or something along those lines.

Giving Sakura a look that was a mix of self-amused and mildly annoyed, Junko continued, "We're actresses, aren't we? And actresses are supposed to entertain people." Gesturing to Tae, the Showa idol zombie girl said, "The people here are entertained by what's going on with her, so why would we stop?"

"This isn't right!" Sakura nearly exclaimed as she took Tae's head back from Junko and stuck it back onto Tae. However, Junko took Tae's head back off and shoved Sakura off to the side with a hip bump when the long-haired zombie girl tried to get Tae's head back again. As she held Tae's head out to show off to the cheering audience, the Showa idol zombie girl had a smug and somewhat self-amused smile on her face.

Chuckling to herself, Junko said somewhat to herself, "I don't know why I haven't thought of this before. This whole 'zombie actress' thing might actually be a-" Junko was cut off when, to her surprise, Sakura went up and _slapped_ Tae's head out of her grasp, sending Tae's head flying back to the wall at the back of the stage, where it smacked into the wall and promptly fell down, being safely caught by Hikari.

Giving Junko a very annoyed and angry look, Sakura snapped, "Can't you at least _try_ to hide the fact that all of us are zombies?!" Junko, as well as Ai and all of the other zombie girls were all taken by surprise by Sakura's sudden outburst at the white-haired zombie girl. "Seriously, you're not even bothering to try and hide it!" Sakura ranted on, "What kind of actress's head just comes popping off at random?! Does that sound even _remotely_ human to you?! What kind of human can pull off a stunt like that, huh?! Is that brain of yours rotting inside your head as well?!"

"Alright, you quisling hussy," Junko remarked, sounding just as annoyed and angry at Sakura but not raising her voice enough to match the volume that her rose hair-colored counterpart was using, "You want to try to defend this crazy plan to have all of us be actresses in a show, then fine, I'll take you on. If you're that eager to show that you got what it takes, then I'll be glad to kick your butt from here all the way over to Hokage Rock over in Konohagakure!"

"If they find out that we're zombies, we'll be more than dead by the time's all said and done!" Sakura snapped back, unperturbed by Junko rising to her challenge, "I hope that at least _some_ of my words are getting through to you, but I doubt that it's happening given how obviously thick that head of yours is! If you can't take this seriously, then you'll be the zombie with the head damage that won't regenerate! How much more has to happen before you regret it?! How many people shooting at us will it take for you to get it?!"

As Sakura was scolding Junko on stage like that, Kotaro, who was watching from off stage behind some curtains, looked on in a bit of curious amusement before the eccentric man started to make beatboxing sounds with his mouth, even finishing off with sounding perfectly like a DJ turning an album to make a 'werka-werka' sound.

This was apparently enough to trigger a full-blown impromptu rap battle between Sakura and Junko. "What makes you think I'll just roll over and agree? I died while riding from a chase and now you want me to be an actress zombie?" the Showa idol zombie girl began, "If my other choice is acting like a stuck-up snot, then I should have been left in the ground, I'd rather rot!"

As Junko said her first bit in the rap, Yugiri began playing a shamisen that she apparently got out of nowhere; likewise Sigrid was going "Hua!" every so often, each sound sounding like part of some Viking war-chanting. Saki, with an amused look on her face, joined her half-foreigner counterpart in the Viking war-chanting, which flowed perfectly with Yugiri's shamisen playing.

Lily, as she watched on, looked like she wanted to join in on this fun as well. Acting quickly while Sakura and Junko were both distracted facing each other down, Lily grabbed Tae's head and stuck it back onto Tae's neck. The unawakened zombie girl lunged forward and took a microphone that was laying on the stage into her mouth and sucked on the mouth piece, which only served to help the beat of the rapping. Seeing this, the child actress zombie girl looked like she was even more excited to play at least some sort of roll in the impromptu rap battle between Sakura and Junko.

"I can't remember anything before all of this went down," Sakura rapped as she took her turn while Lilly moved from one end of the stage to the other while clapping, getting some of the people in the audience to clap along to the beat, "But in the studio, I felt something click. I'm not some random good girl, and I'm not some random clown. I just want to do more than to be some worthless brick!"

"Who cares if you got memories in your head?" Junko rapped as she and Sakura both swayed to the beat of the music, "You don't get to see friends and loved ones, and your idol career's long dead!" Giving Sakura a challenging glare, the Showa idol zombie girl said, "We're done, got it?! Nothing's going to be able to change that!"

"Hell no!" Sakura retaliated, "Like hell we're done! This new chance is just getting started! We need to keep going ahead, or we'll just be living dead! Even though all of us died, we're only stopping when we decide! So stop hiding and ride again! Kick some ass, idol!" Back stage where he was hiding off to the side, Kotaro made some reverse record sounds with his mouth, being able to tell that Sakura was not done rapping yet.

Looking over to Ai, Sakura rapped, "And that also goes for you standing over there! Going to act like a loser when you're part of a celebrity pair? You've got all the talent in the world, but you're trying to give it up without giving things a whirl! Quit complaining and whining about why you can't win! If you've got even the slightest chance, then try to do it then! Even a zombie can do it if she tries, and when you prove it, you'll prove the dead can rise!"

The audience was surprisingly entertained by the rapping and thus they applauded it, although the 'zombie theme' of the rap as they were calling it amongst themselves did strike them as something of an odd choice. Hearing the applause coming from the audience, Sakura turned to face them, taking note on how most of them were elderly people.

"That goes for all of you old folks out there, too!" Sakura rapped on, "Tell anyone who talks about golden years to you to go screw! Take a nap in the afternoon on the porch? Not you! People worried about the low rate of birth? Show all of them what silver's worth! If they want to blame everything on you anyway, then stay active and show them you're here to stay!" Holding her microphone up aloft, Sakura then threw it right to the stage floor while shouting, "Bang!"

The audience went as wild as a lot of them could go, Sakura's finish bringing the performance as a whole to its climax. Some people even stood up to give a standing ovation, they were that entertained by the rapping between Sakura and Junko. The zombie girls, aside from Sakura who was breathing in and out a bit, looked around in wonder as they took in the sight of everyone in the audience cheering for them. This was especially so for Junko and Ai, both of which had been scolded in rap by the long-haired zombie girl. The looks of wonder on Ai's and Junko's respective faces showed that the both of them were starting to realize that maybe, just maybe, that this 'actress' thing may be worth sticking around for and giving another chance.

As the audience continued to applaud the impromptu rap performance, the zombie girls all looked over the audience, amazed that the crowd was so excited for them. As Sakura, who just then noticed the support from the crowd, looked around, Saki came walking over to her. "Wow, it looks like you really got the attention of these geezers and the few odd younger people here, Egghead," the biker zombie girl remarked, "Not bad. Not bad at all." Sakura, for her part, looked on with a look of mild shellshock on her face, as if the rap battle she had just won came to her as a sudden surprise.

* * *

Outside of Saga Castle, Sakura was standing off to the side in some shade as the sun was setting. The long-haired zombie girl was still surprised at, as well as a little ashamed of, herself for what she had just done during the zombie girls' performance. However, Sakura was soon brought out of her pity party when Saki walked over to her, getting her attention. "Yo, Egghead," Saki began, her tone making it clear that she was impressed, "That was actually pretty ballsy of you, that rapping that you did with Junko back there."

"I didn't mean for that to even happen," Sakura replied in a mildly flustered manner, "I was just so frustrated with how Junko and Ai have been acting ever since they and the rest of you girls had awakened." With a sigh, the long-haired zombie girl continued, "I just wanted everyone here to get along and give this second chance that all of us have a shot, like what I'm doing."

As Sakura continued to look down to the ground in shame, she was surprised when Saki reached forward and wrapped her right arm around her shoulders, drawing Sakura into a friendly hug. "You know, I already felt that you got some of the right stuff," Saki began, "What with how you took so readily to all of this crazy stuff and with how you took charge a bit and whatnot. But now, after how you totally thrashed Junko in that rap battle like that? Well color me impressed, Egghead." Giving Sakura a pat on the back, Saki said, "Girls with guts like you are okay in my book. I was a little unsure of this whole actress thing myself, but with someone like you setting the standard, I wouldn't mind following along."

"Thanks, Saki," Sakura replied, her spirits restored a little by how she now had Saki's respect apparently, "Although I'm not sure if taking part in rap battles is very actress-like."

"It doesn't matter," Saki remarked in a reassuring tone, "With how well we did here tonight with getting the audience that excited, I'm more than sure that we accomplished what Shades brought us here to do to spread the word of that show we're acting in."

The other zombie girls were sitting nearby, all of them (aside from Tae who was distracted by some dried squid snack that she had) watching as Saki gave her respect to Sakura. Seeing the biker zombie girl give her seal of approval to Sakura, Junko and Ai both turned to look at one another, looks of regret on their faces (especially so for Junko). The two idol zombie girls both got up and walked over to where Saki was hanging with Sakura.

"I…believe that Saki raises an excellent point, Sakura," Junko began, the hesitance in her tone showing that she regretted ruffling Sakura's feathers the way that she did, "I would like to apologize for my behavior, both to you today and to everyone else as a whole ever since I had my 'awakening' as it's being called."

"I want to say sorry for my part in all of that as well," Ai remarked in an apologetic tone, "And I think I speak for Junko when I say that the two of us would like to try to give this whole 'actress' thing an honest go." The Showa idol zombie girl nodded with what her Heisei counterpart said, a sign that showed that she did in fact agree.

Sakura, for her part, was touched by the gesture that the two idol zombie girls was trying to show. Smiling a bit in a touched manner, Sakura said, "Thanks, you two. I'm sure that if all ten of us put our all into it, then we'll be able to knock being actresses out of the park and bring our show into the top ratings bracket!"

"And the rest of you all better follow my lead on this one," Saki remarked a she jerked a thumb at her chest, "The ten of us are all members of the same acting troop according to Shades, right? And that troop needs someone to be the troop leader. So all of you better say hello to the leader of our actress troop, because she's right here! Saki Nikaido!" The other nine zombie girls (again with the exception of the distracted Tae) all turned to look at Saki with looks of mildly surprised confusion.

"…Umm, Saki-san," Yugiri began in a mildly wondering tone, "Wouldn't it make more sense for one of those among our number with more experience in being actresses than you to be the leader of our actress troop? I mean, Lily-san and Ayumu-san are both experienced actresses, and Sakura-san is well versed in the workings of the acting world herself. I just believe that having someone with such experience leading our little group here would be one of the wisest choices that the ten of us can make as a group."

Waving away the courtesan zombie girl's reasonable argument, Saki said, "Well I have a lot of experience being a leader, so it ought to be me." Pounding a fist into her hand, Saki continued, "With me in charge of the troop, there's no way that anyone would be able to stand in our way as our show makes its way to the top of the ratings!"

"Heh," Sigrid remarked in an amused-sounding scoff, "If it's leader experience that's needed, then I'm just as qualified to be the chieftain." Waving a hand to blow away any argument, the half-foreign zombie girl continued, "But then again, being a minstrel in the spotlight was never my horn of drink, so if you want to lead the party, then be my guest."

"Then it's settled!" Saki declared, "I'm now the official leader of our actress troop!" Saki then gave off a confident laugh as she had her fists planted on her waist, drawing a mildly exasperated sigh from Sakura. Regardless of the outcome, Sakura was glad that all of her fellow zombie girls were now on board with the idea of being actress for 'Saga Stories'. She was especially glad that she had been able to reach through to Junko and Ai, as they were the most hesitant.

With a mildly confident smile, Sakura nodded once in agreement, showing that she didn't mind it that Saki was declaring herself the leader of their acting troop. The other zombie girls, just glad that things were going to continue without major setbacks, all just decided to go along with how things were turning out.

END, SAGA STORIES CHAPTER TWO

Author's notes:

Wow! At over 10,400 words by this point (Word kept track of the word count for me), this is the longest chapter that I've written for any of my stories to date, even without the disclaimer at the beginning and this author's note here! That is a new record for me!

But back to the serious matter here, this has been the second chapter of 'Saga Stories', which presents the events of the second episode (of season one) in a different way due to the AU nature of this story. I wanted to put more focus on Ai and Junko and how they acted during these events. Junko especially so, which is why when this chapter got to the part with the rap battle, I switched Saki out and replaced her with Junko as Sakura's opponent in the rap battle; Junko rapping against Sakura is also why the words in the rap itself had to be changed slightly. That's the main difference between this chapter and its counterpart in the series proper, I suppose.

Either way, by the time that things were said and done, Sakura's still got everyone agreeing to go along with the 'Saga Stories' project that Kotaro has going, and she still put on enough of a show to get Saki's respect straight up, which is probably a secondary facet of this chapter's counterpart, if you think about it. But that's beside the point. Anyway, I'm going to have to more or less build up an original plot for the next chapter in order to better fit the actress theme that this AU story is trying to go for (episode three's plot doesn't really work all that well for this story's setting), as well as to make up for the fact that Ai and Junko were won over here.

I'm sure that I can come up with something, although I'm not opposed to suggestions and ideas from all of you guys.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Zombie Land Saga, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Saga Stories: A tale of Zombie Land Saga

Chapter three: Undead understanding

The zombie girls were all relaxing back at the mansion after a successful performance over at Saga Castle. As the girls all milled about the room that they were hanging out in while in their zombie-like appearances, having a little party to themselves to celebrate their surprise success at the open mic performance, Sakura looked around as she stood off to the side with Hikari. The long rose-colored haired zombie girl wore a small but sincere smile that showed that she was proud of all of the progress that she and her fellow zombies were making.

Sakura was particularly proud of the progress that she had made with Ai and Junko; the two idol zombie girls were at first rather hesitant to go on ahead with the idea of being actresses on the show that Kotaro and his men were producing, with Junko being especially stubborn. However, Sakura was able to get through to them at last, although it took her totally thrashing Junko in an impromptu rap battle to accomplish that goal. Sakura received further confidence from the rest of her fellow zombie girls when Saki, and to a lesser extent Sigrid, gave her a thumbs-up.

"I have to say, Sakura," Hikari remarked as she looked around the room with Sakura, watching the other zombie girls interact with one another, such as Ai and Junko chatting it up with Yugiri, Saki and Sigrid downing their fifth and seventh cans of cola respectively as they talked about their respective pasts, and Lily looking up to Ayumu as if the child actress zombie girl saw her teen counterpart as someone to idolize. With an amused smile on her face, Hikari continued when she turned to face Sakura, "You have made a lot of progress in getting the rest of the girls to agree to go along with whatever it is that Kotaro and his men are trying to do."

Nodding once in agreement, Sakura replied, "I'm just glad all of the girls are getting along with each other now."

"By the way," Hikari began, her tone carrying a mild hint of curiosity, "When we got back from the performance over at Saga castle, I saw you writing in some little book while Saki, Ai and Sigrid were setting this party up. If you don't mind me asking, what was up with that?"

"Oh, I was writing in my journal," Sakura explained, "I was writing about all of the major highlights that I experienced ever since you and the other girls aside from Tae finally awakened." With a bit of an embarrassed look on her face, the long-haired zombie girl continued, "I still can't believe that Junko and I got into a rap battle against each other when we were supposed to be doing improve comedy at the open mic performance."

The gamer zombie girl let out a bit of an amused chuckle before saying, "Actually, about that." Pulling out a smartphone (Kotaro and his men supplied each of the awakened zombie girls with smartphones for various reasons related to their business), Hikari explained, "That rap battle that you and Junko had not only went viral, but it did more than well enough in getting the attention to 'Saga Stories' that Kotaro wanted. I found a really good video clip of the rap battle up on a video sharing website."

To demonstrate what she meant, Hikari pulled up the video she was talking about and played it for Sakura, who let out a bit of an embarrassed moan when the rap battle reached its climax. When the rap battle ended, Hikari paused the video when it was about three seconds from ending. "There are also a lot of comments here as well," Hikari remarked, "Some of which tell others about how we're the stars of 'Saga Stories'." Hikari then scrolled down to show Sakura some of the comments on the video;

_BigRockLover300_

_Those girls from Saga Stories who rapped at Saga castle were pretty amazing! I'm more of a metal guy myself, but I can still appreciate the quality of their singing here! I'm going to have to find somewhere that I can watch the first episode, as well as keep an eye out for next week's episode as well!_

_SlimRockLover150_

_Even the odd choice in going for a 'zombie' theme did not detract from how epic the rap battle was. And those are two of the girls from that Saga Stories show? I'm going to have to look into seeing the next episode. Here's hoping that they do an episode where they do a lot of songs!_

_DivorcedMom69_

_Although that rose-haired b**** had absolutely no idea how to act like my spineless ex-husband for the improv performance, she is still pretty damn good in my book what with how she totally thrashed her white-haired pal in that rap battle. I think those girls are the stars of that Saga Stories show that my son Katsuki's friend Todoroki likes to watch. I think that I ought to look into catching the episodes myself. Might be fun._

After scrolling through a few more comments left under that video, Hikari said to Sakura, "As much as that rap battle you had against Junko may have been embarrassing for you once the reality of things had caught up to you, there's still no denying the results. Also, a lot of people really liked the rap battle, so it's nothing for you to be too sheepish over." Turning her attention to look up at Sakura, the gamer zombie girl added, "You don't give yourself enough credit."

"You…" Sakura began, "…You really think that I-"

"Great job, ladies!" Kotaro's voice boomed out suddenly, cutting Sakura off midsentence and making all the girls turn to face the direction Kotaro was in when he came bursting into the room. The only zombie girls who did not turn to see the eccentric man's entrance were Tae, who was distracted by some dried squid snack she was chewing on, and Ayumu, who covered her ears with her hands and hunched up upon hearing Kotaro's voice boom out. Ayumu stayed like that for a few seconds until Lily was able to ease the teen actress zombie girl out of her flinching.

Walking into the room with a confident stride, Kotaro said, "Your performance at Saga castle, as spontaneous as the rap battle may have been, was nonetheless just what was needed to further spread the word of Saga Stories! Our viewership is bound to go right up through the roof thanks to you girls, Sakura and Junko especially!" The eccentric man then began clapping a bit, leading a few of the zombie girls themselves, along with some of his men who were also in the room at the time, into a good round of applause.

"Now then," Kotaro continued as he got the applause to settle down, "I'm here to tell you girls something rather important." Pointing dramatically at the zombie girls as a whole, he went on, "You girls need to settle on a group name for your actress troop!"

"A…" Sakura began, her tone showing mild amounts of confusion, "…Group name?"

Crossing his arms over his chest as he nodded once in the affirmative, Kotaro continued, "I had actually talked with some of the people who watched you girls' performance, and a lot of them asked if your actress troop had a group name." Clapping his hands together, the eccentric man then said, "When I was asked if you girls had a group name, I was struck with inspiration! If you had a group name, then think of how much better we can market Saga Stories to the viewers!" Kotaro lowered his arms back to his sides before he pointed at the girls.

"I will leave the task of coming up with a group name up to you girls," the eccentric man said, "But if you girls take too long, or if you can't decide, or if what you girls come up with sounds weird, then I'll come up with a name for your group myself." Turning around to leave the room, Kotaro said as he walked out, "I'll give you girls until ten tomorrow morning. Have fun trying to come up with a handle!" Before any of the zombie girls could stop him, Kotaro had left.

As the girls all looked around at each other, Lily spoke up and said, "I got it! I know what our group name can be! How do you girls like the sound of…" Taking a dramatic pause, Lily spun around in place a bit before she stopped in a pose facing the others before saying, "The pretty rainbow sparkle Lily force?"

The other zombie girls looked at the child actress among their number with varying looks of questioning. Saki let out a snort before saying, "Sorry, Shrimpy, but that sounds like it would give us diabetes."

"Can undead such as us even develop diabetes?" Hikari asked rhetorically.

"What is this diabetes of which you speak?" Yugiri asked in a curious tone.

Shaking her head, Sigrid let out a mildly annoyed sigh as she got up, walked over to a dry erase board and picked up a red dry erase marker that was resting on the thin tray attached to the board. "I got this," the half-foreign zombie girl said as she popped of the cap and began writing all over the board, drawing big bold letters. When she was done, Sigrid turned around and showed her fellow undead what she had come up with. "Raging Valor Valkyries!" Sigrid said with all the confidence in the world, "A name such as this will bring all of our foes to kneel!"

"We…" Sakura said, a bit of hesitance in her tone, "…Aren't a tribe of Vikings, Sigrid."

Sigrid was about to argue with the long-haired zombie girl, but Tae came walking up, her eyes fixated on the dry erase marker that Sigrid held. As the unawakened zombie girl made moaning sounds while gesturing to the marker, Hikari took note of this. "…Hey, I think that Tae is trying to show that she has an idea," Hikari remarked. Figuring that it wouldn't hurt to humor Tae, the half-foreign zombie girl handed her the dry erase marker just as she finished erasing what she had written on the dry erase board.

Tae looked contemplatively at the tip of the dry erase marker for a few seconds, prompting the other zombie girls to look on in wonder of what their unawakened member had in mind. Then, without warning, Tae stuck the writing end of the dry erase marker into her mouth and began to suck on it. This action from Tae prompted some of the zombie girls to face palm, as they felt that something could have actually been expected out of Tae.

"Tae, that's for writing on the dry erase board," Sakura began to say after she took the dry erase marker from Tae, "Not for-" Sakura was cut off when Tae, who turned quickly so that she faced the dry erase board, sneezed suddenly, splattering a lot of the ink from the dry erase marker onto the board. This drew some groans of disgust from some of the others, and Yugiri even scolded Tae a bit when the unawakened zombie girl sneezed a second time. When Tae sneezed that second time, however, Lily's expression lit up, as if the child actress zombie girl had just been struck by a bout of inspiration.

Pointing at Tae, Lily declared, "That's it! That's what we can use as our group's name!"

"A sneeze?" Saki asked with a hint of dry sarcasm in her tone as she crossed her arms over her chest, her expression showing that she wasn't exactly sold on the matter.

"Father of achoo?" Sigrid added, drawing an amused look of approval from Saki as she offered her half-foreign counterpart a high five, which was accepted.

Gently shaking her head in the negative, Lily began to explain, "No, we're not naming the group sneeze." Gesturing to Tae, Lily explained to the others, "Tae's sneezing sounds kind of like she's trying to say 'Franchouchou'." Nodding once in a confident manner, Lily went on, "It's not only a name that sounds cute, but it's also original. I say we go for it!"

The others all looked around at each other for a few moments. Suddenly, Sakura clapped a bit while saying, "That's actually a good idea, Lily! Yeah, I say that we go-" Sakura was cut off when Tae lunged forward at her to get back the dry erase marker. The two girls struggled, and in that struggle Sakura lost her hold on the dry erase marker; it flew through the air, and ended up landing in Yugiri's hands.

Tae noticed that the courtesan zombie girl now had the marker that she sought, so she promptly turned and went right at Yugiri, forcing her to run around the room to avoid Tae. As Yugiri called out to her fellow zombie girls for some help in getting Tae to stop chasing her, Sakura went in to try and grab Tae and hold her back; the other zombie girls didn't exactly move in to help, and Saki and Sigrid even pointed and laughed at what Yugiri was going through.

* * *

The zombie girls, once they settled on Franchouchou as their group's name and got Tae to settle down and stop chasing Yugiri, sent Sakura, Lily and Ayumu to Kotaro to tell him what they came up with. The eccentric man, with a look of mild amusement on his face, agreed with the name, thus officially dubbing the zombie girls' actress troop as Franchouchou. After that, the ten of them decided to go to a local park at night, as they wanted to get out a bit.

Saki and Sigrid sat on some swings while Sakura, Lily, Tae and Ayumu spun around on a carousel; Hikari sat on a bench while looking up something on her smartphone, Ai and Junko stood off to the side to chat it up, and Yugiri stood off to the side by herself as she took a drag from her Meiji era smoking pipe. Although all of the girls were in their true forms, there was very little chance, if any, that someone would see them without their monster glamor/makeup on to cover their undead state.

"Hey girls," Sakura said as she talked to the girls that were spinning on the carousel with her, getting all three of them to look at her although only Lily and Ayumu were listening to her, "Are any of you worried about how the next episode of Saga Stories will do?"

"Sakura, you're talking to me and Big Sis here," Lily replied in a reassuring tone, "And you've proven to be no slouch as an actress yourself. With three acting powerhouses like us, I have no doubt that the show will go on to soar into the ratings."

Sakura, with a hint of worry still in her expression, nonetheless smiled in an appreciative manner as she nodded once in thanks to the child actress zombie girl. Sakura looked like she was about to say something, but she was cut off when Ayumu said to Lily, "Hey, I have a question, Lily. Is there a reason why you keep referring to me as 'Big Sis'? Don't get me wrong, I'm actually very flattered by the gesture, it's just that I'm wondering what the reason behind it is."

Turning to face Ayumu, Lily said, "Actually, back when I was still alive and first got into acting, you were one of my main inspirations to becoming an actress, Ayumu." Nodding once in a manner to confirm what she was talking about, Lily went on, "Yeah, I remember how you were a really popular actress back then, Ayumu. You were actually an idol to me, the kind of actress that I wanted to be." With a hint of somberness entering her expression, the child actress zombie girl went on, "I cried on and off for three days straight after I heard in the news about how you, well, you can guess what I'm talking about…"

Ayumu, with a hint of somberness in her own expression, replied, "Yeah, I can understand what you're getting at." Gently shaking her head, the teen actress zombie girl continued, "Now that you mention it, I did hear a bit about some up and coming child actress a short while before I had died, and that my manager at the time was trying to arrange a meet up between me and said child actress." The somberness in Ayumu's expression faded a bit, replaced with warm joy. "I'll go on and guess that you were that child actress that my manager wanted to arrange a meet up with."

"Aww man!" Lily said in a tone of complaint, sounding like she just learned that she was ripped off in a deal, "You're telling me that I could have actually met you in person?"

"Umm, Lily," Sakura began to say, "You've not only met Ayumu in person, but now you're actually working with her."

Turning to face Sakura, Lily replied, "But I could have met Big Sis _sooner_!" Relenting a bit, the child actress zombie girl remarked, "Still, it's nice that I got to meet and work with her anyway. Better late than never, I suppose."

After Lily complained, Ayumu looked like she was trying to reach over to Lily, but hesitated and pulled back. This did not escape the notice of Sakura and Lily; Tae was still distracted, so it got by her no problem. "Umm, Ayumu," Sakura began, "Are you oaky?"

"I…" Ayumu began, but stopped short, let out a resigned sigh, then continued, "…I don't like how things went against Lily like that, so I was thinking of trying to pull her into a hug to make her feel better. But I'm not sure if that would have been something that she would be-" Ayumu was cut off when Lily suddenly threw her arms around her and pulled her into a hug herself; the teen actress zombie girl froze up suddenly by this spontaneous physical contact.

"Eeeeeeeeeeee!" Lily squealed in delight, "I _knew_ that you were really awesome, Big Sis! I just knew it!" Lily hugged Ayumu like that for a few more seconds before letting go. When Ayumu remained frozen due to Lily's hug, both Lily and Sakura noticed this, with Lily looking on at the teen actress that she idolized with a concerned expression. "…Big Sis?" the child actress zombie girl began, concern clear in her tone, "Are you okay? I didn't surprise you too much by hugging you like that suddenly, did I?" Ayumu remained frozen, her expression looking a bit rattled, as Lily and Sakura both looked on at her with looks of concern.

Worried about Ayumu, Sakura made the carousel stop so that she and the others could get off. As Sakura tried to lead Ayumu off of the carousel, her leading caught the attention of Yugiri, Saki and Sigrid, who all stopped what they were doing and walked over to see what was going on with Sakura and the others. "Hey Egghead," Saki began as she gestured to Ayumu, "What's going on with her?"

"Ayumu suddenly froze up when Lily surprise hugged her," Sakura explained in a concerned tone, "I think we ought to get her back to the mansion right now."

Saki, as well as Yugiri and Sigrid, all nodded in understanding, and proceeded to assist Sakura and Lily in rounding up the other zombie girls. Tae was, given her unawakened nature, oblivious to the situation, both Junko and Ai were a little steamed that Ayumu freaking out resulted in all of them having to head back early, and Hikari was actually glad to be returning to the mansion, as it's got a far superior Wi-Fi signal than what little trickles were able to be picked up there at the local park.

* * *

The following morning, the zombie girls were going over their copies of the script for the next episode of Saga Stories that they were acting in. As they were all on break more or less, Junko remarked, "You know, one of us could have just brought Ayumu back here last night while the rest of us continued to hang out. I don't see why all of us had to return because just one of us had a problem that didn't require emergency attention."

"Hey, you leave Big Sis alone, Junko!" Lily scolded, her tone very clearly showing that she was annoyed, "Besides, it was my fault that she freaked out anyway!"

"And I was the one who called for all of us to return to the mansion," Sakura supplied, drawing a nod in the affirmative out of Lily.

Scoffing in a tone that was more or less indifferent, Junko remarked, "That still doesn't excuse the rest of us all having our time ruined because one of us had an episode and needed to be returned to the mansion to cool off. I mean, was all of us having to return early really necessary when only one person, maybe two tops, was what was needed to take Ayumu home?"

"I'm kind of having to agree with Junko-san on this one," Yugiri remarked, "It was a rather lovely night, and I don't really see the logic in all of us having to turn in early for the sake of just one of us." Looking up to the ceiling with a hint of wistfulness in her expression, the courtesan zombie girl remarked, "It would have been nice to enjoy a few more drags from my pipe under a beautiful moon like that." Ai didn't say anything, but a nod from her showed that she was on the same page as Junko and Yugiri.

Lily, a bit fed up with some of her fellow zombies refusing to be understanding, stood up rather forcefully. "This is why I've been saying that we need to take the time to get to know each other!" Lily scolded, "If we know how all of us function, then we can more readily avoid stuff like what happened last night in the future!"

Sakura, who nodded in agreement with Lily, stood up from the chair she was sitting in. "Lily has a point, girls," the long-haired zombie girl remarked, "I think that we ought to do some sort of group exercise where we share with each other what kind of people we are, so that we can get to better know each other."

"I couldn't agree more," Kotaro's voice said, making all the zombie girls turn to see the eccentric man himself walk over. When Kotaro came to a stop, the zombie Japanese Chin that always followed him around came to a stop as well, sitting at his feet. "I can't believe that I overlooked something as essential as group exercises meant to help you girls learn to better work with each other," Kotaro said, "Unfortunately, that's going to have to wait, because I just secured a deal that will help further boost the selling power of Saga Stories!" Pointing dramatically at the zombie girls, Kotaro said, "You all will be acting in a commercial for a local hot springs! This will not only further spread the word of Saga Stories, but it will also generate some income for us! Time is money, after all!"

"Speaking of time," Saki began as she flipped her copy of the new episode's script close, "What time is it, Shades?"

Looking at the watch on his wrist, Kotaro said, "Oh, it's about five minutes until three PM, Saki. Don't worry, I seldom fail to take any detail into account."

Ayumu, who was more or less keeping to herself since some of her fellow undead were talking down about her, suddenly perked up. "It's almost three PM?" the teen actress zombie girl said, a look of mild alarm in her expression, "Then I've got to-"

Kotaro stopped Ayumu by holding his right hand out so the palm faced her. When Ayumu took pause, Kotaro turned and pointed to one of the tables that was in the set room that everyone was in. This table had a spread of various food items, as well as a few choices of drinks; a sight like that was not uncommon in filming studios that produced TV shows, movies, commercials and the like. Kotaro specifically pointed to a box sitting on the table that, upon taking a closer look, held a selection of fairly big muffins.

"A blueberry muffin has been set aside for you specifically, Ayumu," Kotaro explained, his tone showing that he was being calm and understanding towards the teen actress zombie girl, "I even told the guys to make sure that it's a blueberry muffin." With a bit of a self-amused smile on his face, Kotaro added, "It's like I said. I seldom fail to take any detail into account."

Ayumu nodded once in thanks to the eccentric man while saying, "Thanks, Mr. Kotaro." When she turned around slightly, Ayumu was met up by a sorry-looking Lily.

"Umm, Big Sis," Lily began in a guilty and apologetic tone, "I'm sorry if me hugging you by surprise last night made you freak out like that. I didn't mean anything mean by it, I swear."

The teen actress zombie girl let out an understanding sigh before she addressed her child counterpart. "…No, it's just that I failed to tell you about all of my own eccentricities, Lily," Ayumu replied in an understanding tone, "I'm not going to hold it against you. Just please keep in mind that I usually don't like it when people hug me without my consent, especially if they hug me without warning."

"Okay, I'll be sure to ask first from now on!" Lily said, "Well anyway, can I go with you when you go get that muffin you want? I was hoping that there might be some chocolate chip muffins over there as well." Ayumu nodded in agreement, a bit glad to actually have some company with her, and company that was understanding of her. When she was told that it was exactly three on the dot, Ayumu made a beeline for the table with all the food on it so she could get that blueberry muffin, Lily tagging along like she said she would.

While the two actress zombie girls were over at the table getting a blueberry and a chocolate chip muffin, Kotaro turned to face the other zombie girls. "The filming for the hot springs commercial should be a walk in the park for all you girls, now that you all got some acting experience under your respective belts. We'll be going once I get the makeup applied to Junko, Ai and Tae so they can look human."

"Actually, Kotaro, about that," Ai began as she got up while gesturing for Junko to come over and join her. The Showa idol zombie girl seemed to know what her Heisei counterpart was trying to get at. With the two of them standing next to each other, Ai and Junko closed their eyes and concentrated; a few seconds later, both girls' respective appearances went from looking like the zombies they really were to looking perfectly human.

Clapping his hands together, Kotaro remarked in a very amused tone, "Well alright, ladies! You two managed to master using monster glamour! And it looks to be a solid mastery by my guess, too." Crossing his arms over his chest, the eccentric man said, "Now I only have to worry about the makeup for Tae. This will certainly stretch the makeup budget by a mile!"

"Hot damn, you two!" Saki remarked as she walked over to the human-looking Junko and Ai, "About time you caught up with the rest of us! Not only will this save money like what Shades says, but it'll also save time as well!"

The two idol zombie girls, both appreciative of finally getting some praise and respect, nodded in thanks to the delinquent zombie girl. After Ai and Junko nodded in thanks, Lily and Ayumu came walking over, eating a chocolate chip muffin and a blueberry muffin respectively; Lily was about a quarter done with hers while Ayumu was about halfway finished. "What are you guys all talking about?" Lily asked, a curious look on her face, "And why are Junko and Ai already in their makeup to look human?

Turning to regard Lily, Junko said, "Oh, Ai and I were actually showing everyone that we can both use monster glamour now." Gesturing to Kotaro while still keeping her eyes on Lily, Junko continued, "Also, Kotaro was just explaining to us about the commercial for a hot springs that we're going to be act-"

"A hot springs?" Ayumu said in a mildly alarmed tone, cutting the Showa idol zombie girl off midsentence, "We're going to a hot springs?" Ayumu started trembling a bit; it wasn't anything too excessive, but it was enough for the others to take notice. The teen actress zombie girl didn't stop trembling until she felt a gentle patting on her left shoulder, making her turn in that direction and seeing Kotaro looking at her with an understanding expression.

"…The hot springs also has a sauna room where you can sit and relax as you enjoy a nice steam," Kotaro explained, "At least two of you girls are going to have to relax in there anyway for a scene in the commercial to show off the sauna room." With a nod, Kotaro said, "There's no need for you to panic, Ayumu. No one will force you to dip into any of the springs, or similar bathing pools and the like."

Ayumu let out a sigh of relief, thankful that she wasn't going to be forced to enter any bodies of water. Ayumu's relief caught the attention of some of the other zombie girls, mainly Saki, Lily and Junko. This was something that they were wanting to investigate later on, but for now they all had a job to do. It was going to be a rather enjoyable job for them anyway. Saki especially, as she was looking forward to getting to enjoy a nice soak in a hot springs.

* * *

The commercial shoot for the hot springs went rather well for a lot of the scenes. While Ayumu, Hikari and Tae were enjoying the sauna room so that scene for the commercial could be shot, Saki found Sakura while they and the other zombie girls were relaxing and took her along to find Lily. "Shrimpy's the one who has been hanging out with Ayumu the most since we all woke up as zombies," Saki explained to Sakura when pressed, "So maybe she can fill in a few blanks for us to figure out what exactly is up with her."

Sakura, although a bit hesitant to press someone for info, did want to gain a better understanding of the teen actress zombie girl, and if talking about the subject to Lily would help gather some bits of info in that regard, then Sakura was all for it. The two girls found Lily talking to Ai and Junko over at a table as all of them enjoyed glass bottles of milk. "Hey Shrimpy, you and the others here don't mind if Egghead and I join you, do you?" Saki greeted Lily as she and sat down at the table with Sakura.

"No, I don't see the problem," Lily replied, "Although now that you mention it, you and Sakura both look like you came here wanting to ask me for or about something."

Letting out a mildly resigned sigh, Sakura said, "Actually Lily, Saki and I were hoping that you might be able to fill in a few blanks for us in regards to Ayumu. You've hung out with Ayumu the most out of all of since we all awakened, so we were hoping that you might be able to give us some insight on how Ayumu functions as a person."

"I'm actually a bit curious about Ayumu myself," Ai admitted, "I would like to at the very least know why she seemed so rattled by the prospect of having to go into one of the springs here."

Lily looked down at her glass bottle of milk that sat in front of her at her place at the table, a look of resigned somberness on her face. "…I have a pretty good idea on why Big Sis is skittish like that," the child actress zombie girl remarked, "It might have something to do with something that I remember back when I was still alive…"

(FLASHBACK)

(DATE: OCTOBER 6TH, 2011)

It was bar none the worst birthday that Lily ever had. When she woke up earlier that morning, all that was on her mind was the excitement of her big celebration today, a celebration to ring in the fact that she was, as of today, twelve-years-old. The first thing that Lily did was go onto her computer that was set up in her bedroom to check a few things on the internet, mainly leading news stories and her email.

The child actress had gotten a good amount of email from fans ever since her career had taken off, so sorting through all of that tended to take up a lot of her early morning routine time. This, however, was _not_ the reason why this was the worst birthday that Lily ever remembered having. No, the reason for that stemmed from one of the news articles that she found while she was in the middle of checking what news was on the internet. It was an article that, to Lily, felt like a knife had been stabbed right into her heart;

_Popular teen actress Ayumu Akarui dead at seventeen_

_Earlier this morning, the body of Ayumu Akarui, the beloved teen actress that had captivated much of Japan since she started acting when she was thirteen, was found submerged in a full tub of water in her home. An autopsy confirmed that Ayumu's cause of death was drowning, and her time of death was eight-fifty-seven PM yesterday on the fifth. Foul play has been ruled out. More will be reported when it comes up._

Lily couldn't believe it; Ayumu Akarui, the coolest girl ever, the very girl that Lily herself idolized and wanted to be like, died the day before she (Lily) turned twelve. Lily didn't believe the first article that reported Ayumu's death, but every sub sequent article that reported on the late teen actress's death was essentially a repeat of everything; Ayumu died due to drowning while taking a bath, with many simply suspecting that she simply fell asleep in the tub.

As soon as she realized that she couldn't deny it any longer, Lily ran right over to her bed, flopped down, buried her face into her pillows, and began to bawl her eyes out. The child actress would not be moved for at least a few hours, and even when she recovered enough to carry on, Lily would still maintain a completely sad and depressed mood. A mood that would continue on and off for…pfft, a good while, at least. A little over a month, to be specific.

(FLASHBACK OVER)

"…I thought about Ayumu's death every day," Lily remarked in a somber tone, "From the day I learned about it on my twelfth birthday up until my own death." With a sigh, the child actress zombie girl said, "I was at my most miserable for pretty much the rest of my life." Looking at the other zombie girls who sat at the table with her, Lily said, "That's one of the reasons why I stuck as close to Ayumu as I've been doing ever since we all awakened."

Sakura and the others all looked around at each other, exchanging mildly concerned looks of sympathy. "…Geez, Shrimpy," Saki remarked, her tone lacking any of its usual playfulness, "I had no idea that Ayumu means so much to you."

"And you say that she died due to drowning," Sakura remarked, drawing a meek and mildly somber nod in the affirmative from Lily, "Huh, that would explain why Ayumu is so frightened by the concept of dipping into a hot springs, or taking a bath." Crossing her arms over her chest, Sakura continued, "When I was doing the improv with her and you back at Saga castle, she said that she preferred showers over baths, and was a bit insistent on it."

"I guess this means that trips to the beach or pool are out of the question, then," Ai remarked, a hint of concerned understanding in her tone, "It would seem that the way that Ayumu had died left her with a rather nasty case of aquaphobia. I can't really blame her given the evidence. Also, I can somewhat relate since I have pyrophobia for similar reasons." Crossing her arms over her chest, the Heisei idol zombie girl said, "I think we ought to be more accommodating to Ayumu."

Sakura smiled a bit, glad to see that her fellow undead are open to wanting to try to be as helpful to Ayumu as possible, to help her better adjust. "There's just one problem with this plan," Junko remarked, "We don't have a lot on Ayumu other than some of her little personality quirks and how she died." With a serious look, Junko continued, "If we're going to do what we can to help Ayumu, then we need to learn as much as we can about her."

"Then we can just ask Shades if he has anything on her," Saki replied, "I mean, he's the one who gathered all of us, isn't he? It would stand to reason that he knows a lot about all of us. We'll just ask him to explain a few things about Ayumu to us so we can get a better understanding of-"

*CRASH*

"HOW DARE YOU, DRAUGR HAROLT!" Sigrid's voice bellowed angrily following what sounded like something or someone being thrown into a pile of various objects and causing a rather noisy crash and clattering, cutting Saki off in the process. The girls at the table all got up to go and investigate, and what they found made Junko and Ai scowl with annoyed expressions, Sakura and Lily go wide-eyed with shock and worry, and Saki hold a hand over her stomach as she pointed and laughed at what she and the others found.

Yugiri, wearing only a towel wrapped around her so that nothing improper was exposed, was lying on the floor surrounded by empty bath pans as Sigrid, clothed similarly to the courtesan zombie girl, stood about six feet away, a clearly angry look on her face. The other zombie girls had no idea what was going on, and their confusion was further fueled by the fact that Sigrid had taken to bellowing at Yugiri in a language that none of the girls understood, although Sakura had a strong hunch that it was one of the Nordic languages.

Sakura turned to look at Saki, Lily and the idol zombie girls, a look of steadily growing panic on her face. "I…think that we should alert Kotaro-san about this," Sakura remarked, drawing nods of agreement from Ai, Junko and Lily while Saki moved to go try and calm Sigrid down.

* * *

Thankfully, Kotaro was able to keep any repercussions from cropping up, saying that Yugiri and Sigrid was merely letting an argument between the two of them escalate. The hot springs at the time of the incident had very few people outside of the zombie girls, Kotaro, some of his men and staff working at the hot springs, so they were able to get away with only having to apologize to the staff for causing the disturbance. As Sakura would later discover, the reason for Sigrid going nuclear on Yugiri was because of an incident that Sigrid claims had Yugiri 'showing an extreme lack in having honor';

Sigrid and Yugiri were relaxing in a co-ed area of the hot springs, sitting in the same spring as an older man that was in something of a funk. However, the man had an epiphany and snapped out of his funk, but while he was recovering like this, Yugiri slapped the man across his face and told him more or less exactly what he was in the middle of saying when he had the epiphany. Seeing this act of Yugiri's had sent Sigrid into a rage that saw her slug Yugiri across the face, then pick her up and throw her out of that area of the hot springs, where Yugiri had been found by Sakura and the others in that pile of bath pans. The rest is history.

"The harlot draugr stole that man's thunder," Sigrid defended in a huff when the zombie girls were all back at the mansion, all of them having changed into sleepwear, "I was not about to just stand by and let her get away with such dishonor. Not without consequence, at least."

"Okay, so Sigrid isn't the biggest fan of Yugiri in the world," Sakura remarked, "Good to keep in mind for the future." Turning to face Lily and Junko (Saki and Ai had both already turned in for the night), Sakura continued, "But that's besides the point. Kotaro is still going over a few things over in his office, so we should be able to ask him more about Ayumu."

Hearing Sakura mention that she, Lily and Junko were going to learn more about Ayumu piqued Sigrid's interest. "…The soaked draugr has your interest, then?" Sigrid asked.

"We want to do what we can to help Big Sis adjust," Lily explained, "That's why Sakura, Junko and I are going to go ask Kotaro about her. We figure that since Kotaro is the reason all of us are here as zombies, then he has a lot of info on all of us."

"I still don't know why the All-father permitted my return here to Midgard," the half-foreign zombie girl remarked as she folded her arms over her chest, "But if that eccentric man has the info that you girls seek, then all the more power to you." Sakura, Lily and Junko all nodded in acknowledgement to Sigrid before they turned around as a group and left the large room where all of the futons had been set up for the girls.

…

Kotaro was a bit surprised to see Sakura, Junko and Lily visit him at his office as a group; he did not think that these three specifically were that close of friends to come in a group like this to see him. Kotaro's interest was piqued more when Sakura said, "Kotaro-san, the girls here and I were hoping that you might be able to tell us a bit about Ayumu."

"…Why do you want to learn more about Ayumu?" Kotaro asked, his tone showing that he was curious, but also understanding.

"The girls and I want to know why Ayumu has various personality quirks, such as flinching terribly when loud noises occur, insisting on having the same specific snack at the same specific time every day, freaking out by freezing up when hugged, and why she's so hesitant to go near any large pools of water like hot springs and baths," Junko replied.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Kotaro said, "Well I'm pretty sure that her aquaphobia has to do with the fact that she died due to drowning, and as for everything else, well…I don't suppose that any of you girls are aware of what autism is, do you?"

"Oh, I'm actually familiar with it, yes," Lily replied in something of a casual conversational tone, "I remember from back when I was still alive but before I got into acting that there was this one girl in a class I was in at my old elementary school and she had autism, but she was still a really nice girl and all and I fail to see why the other kids were so mean to her and Hey hold on a minute, are you saying that Big Sis is autistic?"

Giving a single nod in the affirmative, Kotaro explained, "Indeed she is. It's a little known secret because a lot of the assistants that were employed by the Akarui family at the time were rather embarrassed by the fact that they had to keep an eye on an autistic teen like Ayumu. A good few of those very assistants were constantly frustrated due to having to put up with Ayumu's various eccentricities, and there was even one lady who expressed some relief about no longer having to look after Ayumu when news of her body being found broke out."

"That…is that really…" Junko remarked, a bit wide-eyed with revolted shock, "…My goodness, that sounds absolutely disgusting."

Nodding in agreement with the Showa idol zombie girl, Kotaro went on, "That very same woman, in a private interview with a reporter hoping to boost his career with an inside scoop about Ayumu's death, even had the gall to claim that Ayumu's autism made her nothing short of a nightmare to look after." Gently shaking his head, the eccentric man said, "Personally, I fail to see what that woman claimed. In all the time that I've been working with all of you girls, Ayumu has been nothing but an absolute marvel to work with. She has brought a lot of light to the 'Saga Stories' project, and I for one am glad that she's one of the legends that I sought out."

"This has certainly explained a lot about Ayumu," Junko remarked, a hint of lingering guilt in both her tone and expression, "To think, I was under the impression that Ayumu was nothing more than a troublemaker who was being impish for the sake of being impish. I was not aware that it something she couldn't help…"

Kotaro regarded the Showa idol zombie girl with a look of consideration, observing how she was clearly remorseful of how she had been treating Ayumu up to this point. Kotaro also saw that both Sakura and Lily looked sympathetic and understanding, both girls under a new perspective. Lily looked especially understanding, but neither Sakura nor Junko noticed this. Kotaro did, and he had a fairly good feeling why the child actress zombie girl looked more sympathetic than she previously did, but he elected not to inform Sakura and Junko about any of it.

Clapping once to get the attention of all three girls, Kotaro said, "Well girls, now that you know what you do about Ayumu, do any of you feel any different about her?"

Briskly shaking her head, Lily said, "Why would I feel any different about Big Sis just because I learned that she's autistic? She's still the same awesome person that I've always known her to be, so I don't have any reason to feel any different about her." Sakura and Junko, both of them now having a better understanding of the teen actress zombie girl, nodded in agreement with Lily. This show from the three of them made Kotaro smile a bit. It was a warm, sincere smile that showed the eccentric man was approving of the girls' response.

"Well I'm glad to see that your opinions of her haven't changed," Kotaro replied, his tone sounding impressed with the strength of character of Sakura, Lily and Junko, "It's wise to have some understanding towards Ayumu, but that does not mean that you have to be constantly walking on eggshells around her. She's autistic, not a time bomb."

After the three girls nodded in agreement, Kotaro asked if they had any more questions. Since none of them did, Kotaro sent them back to the room where they and the other zombie girls set their futons up in. With nothing more to keep them up, Sakura, Lily and Junko all decided to turn in for the night. …Only for Tae to randomly begin chasing after Junko for some odd reason when the Showa idol zombie girl crawled into her (Junko's) futon and was about halfway in, resulting in the two girls running around the room.

The noise made by Junko screaming in a panic as she ran around the sleeping room from the unawakened zombie girl made the other girls wake up, drawing annoyance out of most of them while Ayumu started shivering out of distress over the volume at which Junko was screaming. Lily, whose futon was right next to Ayumu's, turned to her teen counterpart and, after gently getting Ayumu's attention by patting her gently on her arm, reassured her that there was nothing to be alarmed about; Lily even, after she got the okay from Ayumu to do so, gently hugged her, which did have some success in calming down the panicking teen actress zombie girl.

As for Tae's chasing of Junko, that came to an end when Saki, annoyed at having been woken up right after she had gotten to sleep, threw a pillow that hit Tae in the head with such force that it knocked Tae's head off. Tae, both her head and her body, settled down after that, and everyone was able to get to sleep finally.

* * *

The following morning during breakfast, the zombie girls were surprised to see the commercial for the hot springs that they had acted in during a commercial break as they watched the morning news. "Excuse me, Ayumu," Junko began as she tried to get Ayumu's attention. When the teen actress zombie girl failed to so much as even notice that Junko was trying to get her attention as she was focused on her breakfast, the latter sighed in an understanding tone.

Seeing this, Lily said in a casual tone, "Hey, Big Sis!"

Apparently, hearing Lily call out to her with the nickname that the child actress zombie girl had taken to using to refer to her caught Ayumu's attention right off the bat; it helped that Lily's tone was friendly and a bit excited. "Yes, Lily?" Ayumu asked curiously.

"Junko wanted to say something to you," Lily replied as she pointed Junko out to Ayumu, making her turn to face the Showa idol zombie girl.

Once she had Ayumu's attention, Junko said with a bit of hesitation, "Umm, Ayumu, I believe that what bits of the way I've acted towards you ever since most of us awakened as zombies was not the most exemplary model of acting towards one's fellows. That being said, I would like to apologize if I had done or said anything to offend or otherwise hurt you."

Ayumu, although a bit surprised by Junko's apology here, was nonetheless happy that someone was taking the time to express regret in having acted without understanding towards her. Nodding once in acknowledgement towards Junko, Ayumu said, "Apology accepted. It was really nice of you to-" Ayumu was cut off when a minor spat broke out at the far end of the table that the zombie girls all sat at for breakfast, where Yugiri sat opposite of Sigrid.

The two girls were snapping at each other as they fought over a sausage patty that both of them reached for at the same time. In their scuffle, the sausage patty in question flew up and landed right on Ayumu's head. While the sausage patty sat there, Tae, having seen it fly and land on Ayumu's head, jumped up and went right at it, putting her mouth over the patty while her arms were wrapped around Ayumu, a sudden gesture that made Ayumu freeze up.

"Tae! Get off of Big Sis right now!" Lily snapped.

END, SAGA STORIES CHAPTER THREE

Author's notes:

I'm a bit worried that I did not properly represent how autism can affect someone by showing that the character Ayumu has it (it's something that I have had planned since chapter one, so it's not some out of the blue decision). I'm still doing research on the matter, and if anyone is willing to tell me a few facts that I should know so that I can better use Ayumu in this story (if you do, I'd rather it be in a PM than in the comments), then I will welcome it. But aside from that, yeah, this has been the third chapter of this story; it doesn't even have a counterpart in the series proper, given the originality of the plot.

For the next chapter, I'm going to do this AU setting's version of episode 5, where the girls perform in that commercial for Drive-In Tori; I'll most likely do something other than having the girls compete in that Olympics events afterwards, though. Sure, I'm essentially doing it a chapter early, but considering the commercial that the girls shot in this chapter, I feel that doing two hot springs chapters in a row might make things a bit on the stale side.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Zombie Land Saga, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Saga Stories: A tale of Zombie Land Saga

Chapter four: Dinner and a show

The zombie girls of the abandoned mansion located in Saga prefecture were in good spirits thanks to a mix of some new episodes for 'Saga Stories' that had aired plus a commercial that they all recently starred in for a nearby hot springs. As such, while they were all a bit on the confused side (aside from Tae) to be sitting in the basement room with the prison cell while writing on the chalkboard was set up to look like the scoreboard for a baseball game, they still had a good feeling about their prospects.

Sakura in particular was in a good mood, especially as she observed her fellow zombie girls getting along with one another amiably. Yugiri and Ai both listened to Junko as she told them a story from when she was alive, Saki and Sigrid were chatting it up between the two of them, having recognized one another as fellow former-kamikaze girls, Lily was excitedly going on about some sort of business while Ayumu respectfully paid attention, and while Hikari was keeping to herself, engrossed in a handheld video game system that she was playing, she wasn't going out of her way to be a bother to anyone/get on someone's nerves.

Sakura was glad to see all of them getting along, although their attention was all suddenly snapped to face forward towards the chalkboard when Kotaro, wearing a black baseball cap and carrying a metal baseball bat, came walking into the room, standing right in front of the chalkboard. Without saying a single word, Kotaro pointed his bat right at the faces of all of the zombie girls, drawing some confusion out of them.

"You girls have really knocked it out of the park ever since we started!" Kotaro began, "You all ought to give yourselves a pat on the back for being such a breakout hit on Japanese TV. You've not only brought some tourism here to Saga already, but it's tourism that's coming from all over Japan, and even a bit from outside of the country! And things are only going to go up for us from here!" The eccentric man then let out an amused laugh.

"Ehh?" Saki began, "We already-" The biker delinquent zombie girl would have continued, but she was cut off when Kotaro tossed up a baseball with his free hand and swung his bat at it, hitting the ball and sending it right at Saki, slamming into her and with enough force to knock her over, sending her crashing to the floor and making Ai, who sat next to Saki, flinch slightly as Saki was knocked over. Annoyed and pissed, Saki got back up, found and picked up the baseball that Kotaro had used to hit her, and threw it right at him, striking him in his thigh.

The baseball sunk into Kotaro's thigh so much, making the flesh in that area ripple a bit in the process, that it stunned the eccentric man, making him drop his baseball bat which fell to the floor in a clatter. As Kotaro face-planted on the floor in the basement room, Saki snapped at him as she held her hand over her forehead, "The fuck is your problem, Shades?! Are you trying to make me dead again or what?!"

Kotaro, who was still a little stunned, slowly tried to get back up. "…The third episode got the most viewers to date," Kotaro said, "And I got a call from someone wanting to hire you girls to act in another commercial."

"We got another commercial offer already?" Sakura asked in a surprised tone, gently patting her lap absentmindedly, her hands brushing against the pockets on her cargo shorts in the process.

Slowly getting back to his feet, Kotaro said as he covered the bruised area of his thigh, "Indeed we did. I hope you girls all have your appetites, because the commercial deal I struck will have you girls performing for a restaurant."

"A…" Ai began, "…Restaurant hired us to act in a commercial for them?"

Walking over to the Heisei idol zombie girl, Kotaro stood in front of her, bent over slightly so that his face was an inch from hers, and said, "Was I not clear enough for you? Restaurant, you girls, acting, commercial."

Scoffing in a mildly annoyed tone as she wanted to get to the point, Sigrid said, "Well alright then, you elfish man. Would you at least be telling us what manner of dining hall is employing our services to bring attention to them?"

As he stood up and turned to go back to the chalkboard, Kotaro said, "Only a local staple here in Japan, my good warrior girl." Reaching the chalkboard, the eccentric man gave it a good slap, which made the board flip over, showing what was written/drawn on the other side; a drawing of a chicken accompanied by a sketch of a bowl of food that had steam lines coming from it. "You girls will be acting in a commercial for Drive-In Tori," Kotaro declared, "The best chicken place this side of the Pacific Ocean, if not the world!"

Most of the zombie girls were unsure what to make of Kotaro's flashy declaration of what restaurant that they would be acting in a commercial for. Saki, however, stood up with a look of stunned realization on her face, as if the news that Kotaro had just told her and the other nine girls was a deal too good to be true. "No…no way…" the delinquent biker zombie girl said in a shocked tone, "…We get to work with Drive-In Tori…?"

"Saki," Sakura began as she turned to face her fellow undead, the tone of her voice showing that at the very least Sakura's interest was piqued, "I take it that you're familiar with this Drive-In Tori place that we're going to be working with?"

With a look of disbelief on her face, Saki turned to face Sakura. "…Am I familiar with it?" Saki said, "The real question here how are you _not_ familiar with it, Egghead?" The delinquent zombie girl straightened up a bit, folding her arms over her chest. "Drive-In Tori is bar none the best place to eat at!" Saki went on, then added after letting out a bit of a sigh, "It actually holds a lot of fond memories for me, all the way from back when I was still alive and was rolling with my old gang, Dorami. I remember good times from when we would swing by to eat and relax after riding all day."

Shaking her head a bit to try to refocus herself, Saki pointed dramatically at her fellow undead actresses. "For once in a rare while, Shades actually did something right. Girls, there is no way that we can allow ourselves to fail here! We have to put our all into making this commercial for Drive-In Tori as epic as possible! Do I make myself clear?!"

Sakura and the other zombie girls were a bit surprised to see Saki, of all undead, so behind one of Kotaro's deals. As for Kotaro himself, he slowly clapped in applause, a sign of approval for the rallying that Saki was doing. "…Your troop leader has a point, Franchouchou," the eccentric man said to the group as a whole, "As with the hot springs commercial that you girls recently just finished pulling off, this commercial with Drive-In Tori has to be a success if we're to get as much attention for 'Saga Stories' as possible. Also helping the point is that we're being paid here, and the funding will certainly help."

"I have a question," Ai said as she raised a hand, "When do we start shooting the commercial?"

"Right now, actually," Kotaro replied, surprising all of the girls with how little notice all of them were getting before they began work on filming the commercial.

As Junko looked around at the surprised reactions of her fellow undead (Saki looked particularly surprised that they would be working on the Drive-In Tori commercial within very short order), she saw that only Ayumu did not looked surprised. "Excuse me, Ayumu," Junko remarked, able to get the teen actress zombie girl's attention right off the bat, "You seem to be surprisingly calm about how suddenly this was sprung on all of us."

"Actually, Mr. Kotaro told me about it as soon as he secured the deal for the commercial a few days ago, shortly after the hot springs commercial we produced first aired," Ayumu explained, "I actually had sufficient notice in advance." Junko nodded in understanding, thankful that Kotaro was taking care not to spring things on Ayumu suddenly since the teen actress zombie girl's not exactly good with being able to deal with things that are suddenly dropped on her by surprise.

Clapping his hands together, Kotaro said after all the zombie girls turned to face him, "Anyway ladies, you better get ready for a drive, because we're going to go visit the Drive-In Tori what will serve as the sight for our filming the commercial! You girls should also bring you appetites, as we're going to be treated to a meal there before we begin filming!"

"Hot damn, Shades!" Saki exclaimed, "You not only secured us getting to shoot a commercial for Drive-In Tori, but we're going to be eating there as well?!" Turning to face the other zombie girls, Saki said, "You girls haven't lived until you ate at Drive-In Tori!"

"I…don't think that we can exactly live at all period," Ai remarked, a hint of mild confusion in the Heisei idol zombie girl's tone, "I mean, we're zombies, aren't we?" Saki could only roll her eyes at Ai failing to grasp what she was talking about.

* * *

Later, the zombie girls found themselves outside of a restaurant that had a yellow board over the front entrance; on the right hand side of the board (if you're standing outside and facing the board), there was a black and white figure of a humanoid chicken in a red circle. The text on the board identified the restaurant as Drive-In Tori. "Ah," Saki remarked as she looked up at the restaurant, a hint of reverence in her tone, "I can't believe we're actually here!"

The other zombie girls were not quite sure what to make of Saki's behavior here, mostly because none of them ever expected such behavior out of the delinquent zombie girl. Sigrid, with a curious look on her face, crossed her arms over her chest as she turned her attention to her fellow undead delinquent girl. "I assume that this dining hall here is the reason why you're acting as if you're going to feast besides the gods themselves up in Valhalla?" Sigrid asked as she turned her attention to Saki.

"It certainly does have a mom and pop feel to it," Sakura remarked off to the side.

"Is this place really all that famous?" Junko asked dryly, sounding moderately unimpressed.

Saki, ignoring the snide comments from the peanut gallery, merely let out another hum that sounded with ecstasy. "It feels like coming home again," Saki remarked reverently, "Just coming here really takes me back…"

(FLASHBACK)

(DATE: JULY 30TH, 1997)

A row of motorcycles and other similar motorized bikes were lined up outside of a Drive-In Tori sometime during early night. All of these rides bore small flags that identified the people who rode them as the girls of Dorami, the greatest all-female delinquent gang. "When I was alive," Saki said as she narrated over the flashback, "The girls in my gang and I would raise hell all day long, often times doing so right into the night as well. After a long day of riding, we'd swing by Drive-In Tori for something to eat."

In the flashback, Saki, who wore a red-colored long coat, got off of her ride as she turned it off; pulled up next to Saki was the bike of another girl in Dorami, one who had long purple hair that had some streaks of color in it. This girl was dressed similarly to Saki, what with the red long coat and all. As Saki and this long purple-haired girl stood next to their respective rides, the rest of the girls that were with them pulled up and parked their cycles.

Stretching her arms up into the air, the girl with long purple hair said, "Hoo, now that was one hell of a fight that we watched, Saki! I seriously can't believe that one idiot girl from Korosuke thought she could take the boss of Einherjar in a one-v-one!" The girl with long purple hair then let out a fairly loud, amused-sounding belly laugh. Saki, for her part, merely smiled calmly as she gave a single nod of agreement.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to side with you on that one, Reiko," Saki remarked, a hint of amusement in her own tone, "I swear, it was like watching an actual Viking throttle a punk girl from one of the middle schools around here. Glad the other members of Einherjar had no issue with letting you and me stay to watch the fight between their boss and that punk bitch from Dorami's rival gang." Gently shaking her head, Saki went on, "But that is beside the point. Well anyway, the other girls are here, so let's head in and eat, boss."

"Sounds like a plan," the girl with long purple hair, revealed to be named Reiko, said as she nodded in agreement with Saki. The two girls, with a few other Dorami girls by their side, walked up to the Drive-In Tori to get some chow. The flashback then cut to a scene where the Dorami girls were all seated at a table inside, eating and drinking and overall having a good time at the Drive-In Tori.

As she went on narrating over the flashback, Saki said, "I remember the number one yakatori meal was the meal we'd usually spring for. It was the best." The flashback went on to show the girls in Dorami cheering as they had the little dining party there; the flashback ended up ending on a shot of Saki and Reiko clinking glasses of soda together in a toast.

(FLASHBACK OVER)

As Saki continued to look up at the Drive-In Tori, Sakura leaned to her side slightly to better see the delinquent zombie girl. "Sounds to me that your life back then was a bit on the wild side," the long-haired zombie girl remarked, "Huh, Saki?"

Looking up at the sign for Drive-In Tori, Lily pointed at the chicken mascot and said to Yugiri, "That chicken looks kind of weird." Having heard the child actress zombie girl's comment, Saki quickly turned to face her.

"Your face looks kind of weird, Shrimpy!" Saki snapped, a fist pulled back in preparation to throw a punch, "And I'll make it look weirder if you keep talking smack about Coco!"

Looking back up at the chicken mascot, Sakura said, "Coco, huh?"

"That thing has an actual name?" Hikari asked rhetorically, "Huh, and here I just assumed that it was called the Drive-In Tori chicken." The gamer zombie girl's comment drew a few nods of agreement from both Ai and Ayumu.

As the zombie girls stood around the front of the Drive-In Tori, Kotaro came walking over to them. "What's the holdup, ladies?" the eccentric man asked, "You girls need to be looking alive here!" The girls, having heard Kotaro call out, all turned to face him. When they did, they saw that he stood next to a man with short black hair, and he wore a pair of black-framed glasses, a dark pinkish short-sleeved men's dress shirt, a black apron that covered him from the waist down, similarly colored pants and a pair of similarly colored shoes.

Gesturing to the man that stood next to him, Kotaro said, "Girls, this here is the president of the Drive-In Tori franchise."

"It's nice to meet you girls," the president said in a casual yet friendly tone of greeting, "You know, when my wife heard that your manager wanted to try to arrange for you girls to shoot a commercial for Drive-In Tori, she insisted that I take the deal. She's a really big fan of that 'Saga Stories' show that you girls all star in."

The girls, as a group, all said, "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, sir." The only girls that were not part of this group were Tae, who was still unawakened so she just stood there and moaned, and Saki who stood straight before bowing to the president, going as low as she could as she gave the highly respectful (most likely to the point of ridiculous) gesture.

"I seriously can't believe that I get to work with your restaurant, sir!" the delinquent zombie girl said in a tone that was at near exclamation levels of volume, "I can't think of anything better than getting to film a commercial for Drive-In Tori!"

Lily, with a bit of a dry look on her face, said from off to the side, "And she thinks I'm weird."

"Thanks again for coming in today, girls," the president remarked, "I'm looking forward to what you girls will bring to the table when we begin production for the commercial." With a bit of an embarrassed look on his face, the president continued, "By the way, I don't suppose it would be too much trouble to get a picture of all ten of you girls and have you all autograph it, would it? My wife would absolutely love it."

Clapping her hands together, Saki replied, "Do you have a pen?"

Chuckling in a good-natured tone, the president replied, "Well I'm glad to see that at least one of you is on board. But that can wait until later." Turning to his side slightly, the president gestured to the Drive-In Tori. "Before we actually get to all of our business, why don't you girls come on inside and try some of our signature dishes on the house?"

The zombie girls all sounded amazed that they were being treated, so they all said, "That sounds great!" in unison.

Again, Tae and Saki were the exceptions, as Tae just stood there and moaned mindlessly while Saki bowed once again and said, "I would love that, sir!" This behavior from the delinquent zombie girl drew some dry looks from Lily, as well as Junko and Hikari.

* * *

Inside of one of the dining rooms in the Drive-In Tori, the zombie girls were all seated a table that had a decent spread on it. There were a few plates of raw chicken strips placed next to small grills that were built into the table that the girls were seated at. The other girls watched as Saki, using a pair of tongs, took one of the raw chicken strips and placed it on the grill, watching as the meat was cooking, with the sounds of its sizzling being heard throughout the room.

"Here in Saga, we use chicken as the meat of choice in grill restaurants such as this," the president said as the girls were enjoying themselves, "As opposed to the beef used in most other similar restaurants outside of Saga."

Sakura, having finished grilling a bit of chicken meat herself on the grill closest to her, picked it up and popped it into her mouth. Sakura was amazed by the flavor of the cooked chicken meat, thankful that her taste buds still functioned no problem; when she had the first thing she ate after awakening as a zombie, Sakura assumed that she wouldn't be able to taste anything. But she was glad that her assumption was proven wrong, and as such she happily ate the chicken that she had cooked up on the little grill. As the long-haired zombie girl ate, Saki turned to face her, amused by the look of enjoyment on Sakura's face.

"Hey, you should try the garlic pepper sauce," Saki advised, "There's also the teriyaki sauce right there if that's more your speed." Reaching towards the grill with a pair of chopsticks, Saki took a piece as she said, "Oh, there's a good piece."

"Oi, I was cooking that piece for myself," Sigrid said in an annoyed tone as Saki ate the piece she took, "There's plenty of food here to satisfy your appetite." Saki laughed out an embarrassed apology to which Sigrid, in a more or less indifferent tone, remarked, "Very well, but don't let it happen again." The half-foreign zombie girl then picked up a large glass mug of soda and took a few gluttonous gulps from it, draining it dry like as a Viking would with a flagon of mead. "At least this place serves Moonberry Cola," Sigrid remarked after wiping her mouth with the top of her right wrist, "I cannot think of a better drink to quench my warrior's thirst with. At least until I turn twenty and have my first drink of mead, that is."

Looking over at Junko, who sat next to her, Yugiri asked, "I take it that you're still thinking about what to get, Junko-san?"

Junko, as she looked at a copy of the menu, said, "There's this honey chicken item that looks to be rather appetizing. I think that I might spring for that one."

As the girls ate and drank, Kotaro was still talking to the president. "…And that is the seven basic principles of our company," the president said as he concluded something that he was telling Kotaro about.

"I see," the eccentric man replied, "But was the side story you went on concerning your wife's second liposuction really ne-" Kotaro stopped short when the excited clamoring coming from all of the girls cut him off, leaving him unable to talk over it. Turning slightly to face the girls, Kotaro snapped, "Hey, will you girls pay attention?! Seriously, it wouldn't kill you all to listen up, you know!" Having heard Kotaro snap at them, the girls aside from Tae perked up and turned to face him; some of the girls, such as Saki, Lily and Sigrid, still had some food (Saki and Lily) and drink (Sigrid) in their mouths, their cheeks puffing out slightly being a sign of this.

"It's alright, Mr. Tatsumi," the president said, "I'm just glad to see that all of the girls are enjoying themselves here. As the president of the Drive-In Tori franchise, one of my goals is to make sure that all customers that come in to dine here are satisfied with the dining experience that's provided to them by the friendly Drive-In Tori staff."

Swallowing the mouthful of food that she had in her mouth while she looked over at Kotaro and the president, Sakura said, "Thanks. I really have to say that the food here is nothing short of incredible, sir."

Smiling from the complement, the president replied, "Thank you, girls. I'm glad that you enjoy the chicken here, as it's as fresh as we can-"

"Ha! Look at Tae go!" Hikari laughed in amusement as she pointed her chopsticks at the unawakened zombie girl, her comment cutting off the president midsentence; everyone turned to see Tae gulp down chunks of _raw_ chicken, uncaring that none of it was cooked.

"Tae, no!" Lily remarked, "It's not safe to eat the chicken like that! You're supposed to cook it first before eating!"

The president, with a mildly unsettled look on his face, said, "Umm, I know that I say that we serve the freshest chicken meat that we can, but it's not _that_ fresh." As the president stood there trying to talk Tae out of eating raw chicken meat (it's not going to work, just so you know), Kotaro stood up from where he sat at the table, turned to face the president, and gently held his hand to the president's chin, turning his head so that he faced him.

Kotaro looked into the president's face, the scene of the two of them locking gazes looking as if it was surrounded by sparkles. "Now then," the eccentric man said, his tone drawing some blushing from the president, "Why don't we talk about what you want the girls to do when we shoot the commercial." The president was unsure what to make of this gesture, but the fact that he didn't try to get out of it at all was a sign that he didn't exactly object to it.

* * *

Later, outside in an open field, some men assisting with the commercial shoot were getting things set up while a white cover stood over a table with some gear set up on it, alongside a few boxes and some cases that held filming equipment. Kotaro, the president, a tall fairly buff guy wearing a white men's tank top and a pair of cut off short and a somewhat portly man dressed like a traditional director stood under the white cover as they talked about getting ready to shoot the commercial for Drive-In Tori.

Off to the side, one of the girls was wearing a costume that consisted of brown feet and a white one-piece number that resembled a suit made for people to wear when they sleep in bed; the hood of this outfit resembled a cartoonish chicken's head. When the girl wearing this outfit raised her head up from looking at the ground, it turned out that it was Saki that was wearing the chicken outfit.

"Yahoo!" the delinquent zombie girl cheered, "This is awesome!"

Over a ways away, Junko was wearing an outfit exactly like the one Saki was wearing; standing near Junko as Ai, who was wearing an outfit consisting of dark reddish-orange footwear, dark orange leggings, yellow overalls that puffed out slightly around the thighs (making them resemble chicken legs to an extent), a light blue t-shirt under the overalls, and a yellow hat that had an orange bill and two black dots around the forehead area, making it sort of resemble a chicken's face.

Yugiri wore the same outfit as Ai, except that the courtesan zombie girl had a red t-shirt rather than a light blue one, Lily wore the same as Yugiri and Ai but she wore a seafoam green t-shirt, Ayumu wore the same but she had a light lavender t-shirt, and all of the other girls wore the same outfits as Saki and Junko. As Sigrid looked at her arms in the sleeves of her costume, she remarked in an indifferent tone, "Well this is certainly some strange manner of garment. I look like a humanoid game bird of some kind."

"I seriously can't believe we have to wear these outfits for the commercial," Junko said, sounding mildly embarrassed, "Are these costumes really all that necessary?"

"Hey, doing this commercial will help us pay for better outfits," Ai pointed out. Turning her head slightly to look at some of the other zombie girls, the Heisei idol zombie girl pointed out to her Showa counterpart, "Besides, some of the others here don't seem to mind having to wear the full-body chicken costumes like what you're wearing." Junko turned her attention over to where Ai was looking. Saki looked to have no issue at all wearing the costume, still overcome with feelings of giddiness to be working on the Drive-In Tori commercial, and Sigrid looked like she was actually rather amused by the costume that she wore.

Letting out a resigned sigh, Junko said in a mildly defeated tone, "If the resident tough girls of our actress troop have no issue with wearing the full-body chicken costumes, then I guess that I have no choice but to suck it up myself."

"The costume looks really good on you, Junko," Sakura remarked as she walked over to talk to the two idol zombie girls.

"…Please don't lie to me," Junko replied, still a little embarrassed to be wearing the costume that she was in.

Over to where Lily was standing around with Yugiri and Ayumu, the child actress zombie girl said as she looked up to her older counterparts, "Those outfits look really cute on the both of you, Yugiri and Big Sis!"

Turning to her side slightly, Yugiri turned her head slightly to look at the ducktail-like protrusion of her outfit, which covered her rear end. "An outfit like this would have been an interesting choice to wear during my previous line of work," Yugiri remarked as she got a glimpse of the tail that covered her rear.

"I'm glad that Mr. Kotaro got me a t-shirt in my favorite color," Ayumu commented, "And the purplish shade of this lavender goes well with the yellow of the overalls." As the girls in the overalls talked, Tae sat off to the side, chewing on the right end of the sleeve of the costume that she was put in.

"Alright, everyone!" the buff guy with Kotaro and the president called out, "Let's get into positions! We're about to get this show running!" Holding up the clipboard that he was holding, the buff guy took a quick look at it to make sure he had everything written down properly. Turning to face everyone else, the buff guy said, "First off, I'd like to introduce all of you guys to the lovely ladies of the actress troop Franchouchou, who we will have the pleasure of working with on the commercial today!"

The other guys under the white cover all clapped in applause while the girls, knowing that they were being cheered for, all bowed in thanks to the guys applauding them. "And let's not go forgetting the beloved mascot of Drive-In Tori," the buff guy said as he gestured off to the side, "Let's give it up for Coco!" Everyone turned to look in the direction that the buff guy gestured to, and as such they saw a guy wearing a full-body chicken costume walk in; his costume was of much greater quality than the sleep suit-like outfits some of the zombie girls were in. Also, Coco wore a pair of sunglasses (even though it was daytime out right now) that he took off as he made his way over to where everyone else was at. The guys likewise applauded Coco.

As the chicken man walked past the zombie girls, Saki looked on with a stunned look, looking as if she couldn't believe her eyes. "Wow, I can't believe that we're in the presence of such a great legend," Saki remarked, sounding as if a literal god just walked in front of her.

"Just breathe, Saki," Sakura said when she turned her attention to Saki.

"Yeah, just do what Sakura said," Lily remarked dryly, sounding slightly annoyed with how the delinquent zombie girl was acting.

Coco had a bit of a self-assured look of confidence on his face, an expression that bordered on being smug. As he walked, Coco stopped short with a look of startled alarm when he sensed something off. He turned his attention and saw Tae, with a look of hunger that was making her mouth water on her face, looking right at him. Suddenly, Tae let out a wordless shout as she leapt up and flew right at Coco, making him flinch and cower. Luckily for the chicken man, the unawakened zombie girl was caught by Sakura.

"Tae, no!" Sakura exclaimed as she tried to reel Tae in, "He's not a chicken for eating!" As she held Tae, Sakura fell over, taking Tae down with her and keeping her pinned on the ground. Sakura looked up at Coco and said, "Umm, sorry about that, sir. Tae here is probably still a little bit on the hungry side, is all." Coco, the smug airs he was giving off restored, held a hand up in a gesture to show that he was letting it go. As Coco continued on his way, Sakura whispered to Tae, "That's actually a guy in a chicken costume, Tae. He's not a real chicken." The unawakened zombie girl just laid there, not quite understanding what Sakura was saying.

…

With everyone standing in position, the buff guy said to the girls and Coco, "Now that we have everybody in position, let's try working through the first take!" The girls all nodded in agreement, with Saki even going the extra mile by saying that she and the others wouldn't be letting Drive-In Tori down.

"I can just tell that this is going to be great," the director said as he held his megaphone up. Swinging it down in front of him, the director said, "And ACTION!"

The background music for the commercial started to play, and when the girls were given the cue, they all started singing in perfect unison. "Yakitori number one, chicken and rice number two, salad's number three for nutrition! Service with a smile, come on and get your fill! Yeah!" As the zombie girls continued to sing the rest of the song, Tae was the only one who wasn't singing; instead, all that Tae did was moan along while the other zombie girls sang.

"And cut!" the director called out, shortly before the girls could finish singing the song.

"CUT!" the buff guy exclaimed in a somewhat excited manner.

The director, with a slightly confused look on his face, turned to face the buff guy and said, "Is it me, or do the vocals sound a little off to you?" The buff guy nodded in agreement, as he had reached the same conclusion himself.

Sakura, walking a few steps closer to the director, said, "Sorry about that! We'll try fixing things over here on this end!" While the long-haired zombie girl apologized to the director and the other men, the other zombie girls were all looking at Tae.

"You need to sing better!" Saki scolded at Tae, "Are you trying to bring dishonor to the wonder that is Drive-In Tori?"

"Saki, please remember that Tae is still unawakened," Sakura whispered to the delinquent zombie girl, "Singing is pretty much out of the question for her." Sighing, Sakura continued, "I don't know what we can do with her, though."

"Hey, are we ready?" the buff guy called out as he jogged over to the girls, getting them to turn and face him as he approached.

With another sigh, Sakura said, "To be honest, I'm not sure."

Giving the girls a thumbs-up, the buff guy said, "Just cut it out with all of the moaning and it'll be perfect, girls!" The buff guy then jogged back to where he was previously standing before any of the girls could stop him.

"Hey, wait!" Sakura called out, "We're not-"

"We're all set, guys!" the buff guy said to the others waiting under the white cover.

Sakura, a bit panicked since she and the others weren't being given enough time to work out something, quickly turned to the other zombie girls. "Okay, you know what? New plan!" Sakura said to her fellow undead, "All of us will do the singing instead of Tae." Turning to face Tae specifically, Sakura said, "Tae, you remain silent for everything except for the end, where you will do the cock-a-doodle-doo sound. You think you can swing that?" Tae, still unawakened, gave a slight nod as she made a moan that sounded like she knew what was wanted of her. There was no way of knowing that for certain given Tae's unawakened nature, but Sakura didn't have much of a choice on the matter, so she had to put her faith in Tae.

Over at the white cover that everyone was under, the director said, "Alright, let's give this another shot." Raising his megaphone up, the director swung it down in front of him as he called out, "And ACTION!" The music for the commercial started to play, but right when the other girls got the first two words out, Tae suddenly let out the cock-a-doodle-doo sound, prompting the director to yell, "CUT! Number zero, your timing was way off!"

"Sorry about that, sir!" Sakura said as she apologized on Tae's behalf.

…

It took many takes, but eventually, the girls were not only able to get through the routine for the commercial without issue, but Tae finally got the timing for her role down perfectly. "And cut!" the director said. Leaning back in his director's chair a bit, the director continued, "That sounded pretty good that time. Let's do a quick check and move on."

As the girls relaxed a bit, Sakura turned to face Ai. "Good call on changing the harmony at the end there," Sakura said to the Heisei idol zombie girl, "It really helped Tae nail the timing for her bit perfectly." Ai merely smiled in response, thankful that some efforts that she had made had done something good.

Over at the white cover, the director was going over something on a computer screen. Turning to face the buff guy, the director said with a mildly amused smile, "This one is pretty solid."

"Well alright," the buff guy replied. Turning to face everyone else under the white cover, the buff guy said, "It looks like we got ourselves a keeper with the last take."

The girls, having heard this, all sighed in relief, with Sakura even saying, "Thank goodness that this is all over."

"I'm not sure if I can agree with that," Kotaro said, a hint of serious ominousness in his tone. With the girls all looking at him with a variety of expressions, the eccentric man said, "Do you all really think that you've finally got it? Just take a look at yourselves. What do you girls all think you are right now?"

"Umm…" Sakura began, sounding more like she was going to give a guess as opposed to an actual answer, "…Actresses?"

Pointing dramatically at the zombie girls, Kotaro loudly declared, "You're supposed to be chickens!" The volume of Kotaro's voice made the girls recoil a bit; Ayumu even cowered a bit as she covered her ears with her hands, rattled by the volume of Kotaro's loud passionate speaking. "You're supposed to be chickens right now!" the eccentric man declared, "And you girls think your little bit acting here will pass? You need to be more chicken-y, ladies! Come on, cock-a-doodle-do your frigg'in job!"

The zombie girls looked on with looks of confusion on their faces. The only exception here was Saki, whose expression was oddly calm. "…For once," the delinquent zombie girl began, "I may have to agree with Shades on something." The other girls all turned to face Saki, confused looks on their faces. "We had to be real chickens for this," Saki said at a somewhat low volume, then suddenly raised her volume as she exclaimed, "We had to be real chickens for this commercial and we all blew it!"

The zombie girls had no idea what to make of Saki being so passionate about this. Similarly, a lot of the guys under the white cover had no idea of what to make of Kotaro saying that the last run wasn't good enough. "Umm, that last take was pretty good," the director began, "I'm sure that it will be more than-"

"I know they're stupid, but these girls have the fire of acting in them!" Kotaro declared, cutting the director off midsentence, "You must give them another chance to get this down perfectly!"

Over at the girls, Saki said to her fellow undead, "Come on, girls! We can do better than this!" Pointing over to where Coco was doing some breakdancing off to the side, Saki continued, "Do you girls really want to let Coco show us up?!" Pounding her fist into her hand, the delinquent zombie girl said, "If we're going to be taking Japan by storm, then we've got to be able to gobble up the star of the show!"

Tae, having heard Saki declare that they had to 'gobble up the star of the show' and seeing her point to where Coco was standing, immediately ran right over to him, her mouth salivating as her gaze was locked on the chicken man. Coco saw Tae run for him with a look of hunger in her eyes; as such, he promptly freaked, especially so when Tae nearly took a bite out of the rear end of his costume before she resorted to chasing him around.

"Tae, no!" Sakura shouted as she and most of the other zombie girls (Sigrid stood by and laughed as she pointed at the fleeing Coco) proceeded to chase after the unawakened member of their number, "I told you that Coco is not on the menu!" At one point, Tae was able to latch onto Coco by biting down on the rear end of his costume, pulling him back as he tried to get out of the hold and continue to flee.

"Quick, someone get number zero off of Coco!" the director ordered.

The buff guy agreed to do so and moved to rescue the chicken man, but he was stopped by Kotaro. "Wait, belay that belay that," the eccentric man said, making the director and the buff guy take pause as they both turned to face him. Pointing dramatically, Kotaro said, "Get that camera rolling! This is the gold that we've been needing, the story that everyone never knew that they needed to see with their own eyes!"

The director, as he was more or less forced back into his director's chair by Kotaro, more or less just rolled with it, calling out, "And ACTION!" as he swung his megaphone down in front of himself as (most of) the other girls tried to pull Tae off of Coco. In the process, Tae ripped the rear end area off of Coco's costume, revealing the red and white striped boxer shorts that he was wearing underneath the costume.

…

Later that day during the late evening hours, the girls and Kotaro stood outside of the Drive-In Tori with the president. "Great job, ladies," the president said, "I even had some of my men prepare a little thank you gift for you girls, in addition to what we paid you for the commercial." The president pulled out a little paper shopping back that had a small handle. The girls looked on in wonder, curious about what was in the bag.

"Is it more food?" Sakura guessed aloud, only to be proven wrong a few seconds later when the president pulled out a white t-shirt with the Drive-In Tori logo on it. The t-shirt was sealed in a plastic wrap of some kind.

"Ta-da," the president said, "Drive-In Tori t-shirts. I couldn't get what sizes any of you girls wear, so I hope you don't mind that all of you are getting size 3XL." As he put the bagged t-shirt he pulled out back into the shopping bag, the president continued, "Also, some of the men who worked with you girls on the commercials saw how numbers two and eight both seemed to like the full-body chicken costumes that they respectively wore, so they'll be allowed to take the costumes home with them." Hearing this, both Saki and Sigrid let out amused cheers, with Sigrid even pumping a fist into the air.

Nodding in mild amusement to the excited reactions of Saki and Sigrid, the president said, "You two are welcome. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing the final product of your efforts today in making that commercial for Drive-In Tori. I'm also looking forward to the next episode of 'Saga Stories', since Mr. Tatsumi here said that Drive-In Tori will see some product placement in the next episode."

"Indeed, Mr. President," Kotaro replied with a nod. Turning to face the girls, the eccentric man continued, "Since Drive-In Tori advertised us, it's only fair that we advertise them! The dinner scene in the next episode that we'll put out will see number one being visited by numbers two and eight, who bring by some take out from Drive-In Tori to share with her out of thanks for helping them to repair an old motorcycle that number two inherited from her late grandfather." Pointing dramatically at the zombie girls, Kotaro said, "We need to make sure that we get at least a few good shots that clearly show the Drive-In Tori logo during that dinner scene, otherwise we'll have to do as many takes of the dinner scene as we did takes for the commercial that we had just gotten through with filming!"

Sakura paled a bit at the thought of having to do multiple takes for one thing again. Saki and Sigrid were less worried than the long-haired zombie girl; Saki especially so, as she was not one to bring dishonor to the name of Drive-In Tori at any time ever.

* * *

A few days later, over at a two-story house in one of the residential areas in Saga, a woman was entertaining another woman at the house. The first woman wore a long-sleeved pale light tannish blouse, a matching skirt that reached halfway down her shins, and a simple, dark pinkish apron that lacked any frills. This first woman also had purple hair that was long enough to throw into a ponytail that rested over her right shoulder.

The second woman, the guest that was being entertained by the first, had dishwater blonde hair in a hime-style cut that reached halfway down her shoulder blades. The second woman wore an outfit that looked similar to the blouse and skirt that the first woman wore, but the second woman's blouse was a pastel light blue, the skirt was a regular light blue, and the second woman didn't wear an apron. The two women were chatting along with one another, speaking as if they were good friends who had known each other for many years.

"Is Maria still having that rebellious streak of hers, Reiko?" the second woman asked the first, who was apparently named Reiko.

Nodding once in the affirmative, Reiko let out a mildly resigned sigh as she said, "I just wished that my daughter didn't try to take after me, take after what I did before I even gave birth to her." Looking to her friend, Reiko continued, "Even so, I still think that we can get Maria to stop it with her rebellious acting, Nagi."

"Maybe we can try to get Maria to hang out more with my son Sigurd?" the second woman, apparently named Nagi, half suggested half offered. Leaning forward a bit to get closer to Reiko, Nagi continued, "And isn't your nephew a hero course student over at U.A. High School? I bet that a hero-in-training like him would be an excellent example and role-model for your daughter to follow. Just call up your brother's family and ask to borrow your nephew for a bit."

Nodding in agreement with Nagi, Reiko sighed before she said, "Yes. Either your son or my nephew would be excellent persons to try and get Maria to take after. They would both do well at leading her away from the lifestyle that the two of us used to live." Looking up a bit, Reiko sighed as she looked up at the ceiling. "…To think," the purple-haired woman remarked, "It's been over twenty-two years since my closest friend died in that motorcycle crash."

Nagi, with a mildly amused look on her face, leaned back in her seat and said, "You're talking about that Saki girl that used to roll with you in your old gang, huh? Yeah, I think I saw her once, on that one occasion where she came along with you when the two of you girls came to watch my old gang leader Sigrid take on that one girl from Korosuke in a one-v-one fight." Arching an eyebrow, Nagi said, "Saki was the girl with the long blonde ponytail, right?"

"Yes," Reiko replied, nodding once in the affirmative. After the purple-haired woman confirmed things for Nagi, the blonde woman let out a sigh.

"…Then that explains why I get a feeling of déjà vu whenever I see those girls from the cast of that new show 'Saga Stories' perform," Nagi remarked, "That girl that's referred to as number two looks an awful lot like that Saki girl you were friends with before she died." With a look of consideration on her face, Nagi continued, "Similarly, I get the feeling that the girl that's called number eight looks an awful lot like Sigrid."

Reiko nodded in agreement with her friend, a look of mildly grim understanding on her face. "Those girls do seem to look an awful lot like our respective old friends who died over twenty years ago," Reiko remarked, "Maybe they're relatives?"

"Hmm, maybe," Nagi replied, "Oh, did you see the commercial for Drive-In Tori that those Saga Stories girls just did? Not to mention the latest episode of their show, which saw three of the girls eat take-out from Drive-In Tori."

Reiko nodded in the affirmative to Nagi. "And to think that one of the girls from the dinner scene eating some Drive-In Tori is the one who looks a lot like Saki," Reiko remarked before giving a gentle shake of her head. Letting out a chuckle, the purple-haired woman said, "The coincidence is real here, Nagi." The blond-haired woman merely nodded in agreement, letting out a mildly amused chuckle as she did so. The two women then went on with their social visit, talking more about the coincidences they've noticed, as well as what to do with Reiko's daughter.

END, SAGA STORIES CHAPTER FOUR

Author's notes:

Due to the AU nature of this story, the part where the girls filmed for the Drive-In Tori commercial ended up taking up a lot of this chapter, with only a mention of the episode of 'Saga Stories' that saw the Drive-In Tori product placement having been seen. Additionally, in this chapter's counterpart from the series proper, it's a reporter who recognizes Junko, but instead of that, here I have Reiko and a woman heavily associated with Sigrid's past recognizing Saki and Sigrid respectively; this will play a role later on in this story's counterpart of the episode where Saki has a run-in with Maria.

Also, in my research for this chapter, I discovered that Reiko's maiden name is the same last name as a character from another anime series that I'm writing a story for. As such, I decided to make the two of them related in my various works. If you want to learn more, look up Reiko on the wiki. Believe you me, you'll be just as surprised with the discovery as I was. Well anyway, I need to get to work on brainstorming what to do for the next chapter of this story; it's going to be an Ai-centric chapter from what I can see.

That's actually a good thing, as I've been wanting to do some work on her, especially since Ai has a different cause of death here in this story as compared to what she has in the series proper.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Zombie Land Saga, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Saga Stories: A tale of Zombie Land Saga

Chapter five: Of zombies and bonfires

Over at the Sagazine Editorial Department located in an office building somewhere in the Saga prefecture, the people working in that office room were hard at work trying to gather what information that they could scrape up on their latest task. One of the people working in that office room is a young adult man with shoulder-length light brownish hair, and he wore a long-sleeved white shirt under a green somewhat baggy t-shirt, a pair of tannish slacks held up with a belt, sock and shoes. This young adult man stretched a bit as he leaned back into his chair, a bit stiff from slaving way at his computer station for as long as he had been doing.

"Oh, for crying out loud," the young adult man said aloud, a hint of mild frustration in his tone, "We're just running around in circles here. How can none of them have any presence on any forms of social media?" The young adult man leaned forward a bit as he looked at the web page that was pulled up on his computer's monitor; it was a fan-created website dedicated to the girls of the actress troop Franchouchou, the stars of the latest hit TV series 'Saga Stories'.

Letting out a mildly exasperated sigh, the young man said aloud, "There's no pictures of any of the girls other than ones taken of them from past events, and the only videos of them circling around on the internet are the commercials they shot for the hot springs and Drive-In Tori, plus that one popular video someone recorded of numbers one and four having that rap battle against each other during the open mic performance at Saga castle a while ago."

As the young adult man kept airing his frustrations of failing to find anything on Franchouchou out loud, one of the higher-ranked members of the team working in that room came walking over; it was a slightly older man, with somewhat scruffy black hair that reached his shoulders, and he wore a faded dark blue long-sleeved dress shirt with a pocket over the left pectoral, and under that he wore a faded light blue shirt. The man also wore a baggy pair of denim jeans held up with a belt, white, somewhat clunky-looking sneakers, and a pair of socks under those.

"I actually kind of like that about those girls," the older man remarked to his slightly younger fellow in a conversational tone, "It shows that they aren't exactly ones who like to blindly follow trends like most other young girls who get into fame tend to do."

Giving his superior a mildly lost look, the younger man said, "Sir, I know that you wanted us to try and dig up what we can about those girls, but there's nothing to dig up about any of them. I mean, you'd figure that after the month or so that we've been trying to learn as much as we can about them, we'd have at least _something_ to show for it."

The older man nodded once in understanding to his underling. "I know, but the people of not just Saga," the older man began to reply, "But all of Japan, want to know just who exactly those girls are." The older man leaned forward slightly when he saw a photo of all ten of the Franchouchou girls appear on the monitor; the photo had all ten girls standing up, and it showed all of them fully. The older man, with his right index finger, specifically pointed out Lily, Ayumu, Ai and Junko in that order. "Specifically, we're hearing a particularly high demand for information about numbers six, seven, three and four, and how they resemble two deceased actresses and two deceased idols."

"To be honest, I'm just as curious about them as well," the young adult man said, "Just as I am about all of those girls. But there's still jack squat about them that's available." Leaning back in his chair, the young adult man crossed his arms over his chest, letting out a mild sigh. "I just can't help but wonder…" the young adult man began, "…Just who are all of those girls?"

* * *

Over at the abandoned mansion in Saga, the zombie girls, while all of them were in their true forms as zombies, were sitting around at a counter table, eating whatever any of them were having for breakfast. On one of the walls in the kitchen area there as a TV mounted to the wall, which the girls were all watching as they ate breakfast.

"…Leading to an anticipation of slight overcrowding in Azu-Daioh High School as they gear up to accept the student populace of Yokai Academy who needed to vacate from their campus for the time being while there's mass reconstruction and fumigation," the news castor said as he wrapped up a news story, "In other news, the various locations for Drive-In Tori have seen a significant boost in customers since they aired their most recent commercial, where the ten actresses who star in Saga Stories performed. The increased popularity of the classic Saga staple was boosted even further when take out from Drive-In Tori was seen being eaten in one of the scenes in the latest episode of Saga Stories to air."

As the news went on in the background, the zombie girls all turned to regard each other, other than Tae who, due to being unawakened, was mindlessly chewing on some dried squid snack. "I already knew that Drive-In Tori was the best," Saki said in a practically bragging tone, "But it's about damn time that the rest of Japan sees that as well!" Raising her glass of the drink that she was having with her breakfast, the delinquent zombie girl said, "Here's to us, and how much ass we kick as actresses!"

The other zombie girls all cheered a bit as well when led into the toast by the leader of their actress troop. When the girls all settled down, Sakura clapped her hands together, getting all of the others to turn to face her. "Saki's got a point on how we've been doing well," Sakura began, "What with how Saga Stories has been dominating in the ratings, along with how all of the commercials that we've been in have helped to get everyone tuning in. As such, I think that we ought to throw something of a little party to celebrate our success."

"Yay! A party!" Lily cheered, pumping a fist into the air.

"Quick question, Saki," Hikari began as she raised a hand, "What kind of party will we be having, exactly?"

The gamer zombie girl's question prompted Saki to fold her arms over her chest as she gave the notion some thought, concentrating a bit for a few moments. After close to a minute, during which time the other zombie girls looked at Saki in silence (even Tae, although the unawakened zombie girl wasn't exactly zoned in at the time), Saki, with a look of inspiration on her face, tapped her fist into her hand as she said, "I got it! We'll have a bonfire party on a beach!"

"A...bonfire party on a beach?" Sakura repeated, looking a bit confused and like she wanted an explanation.

Nodding in confirmation, Saki proceeded to explain, "You got that right, Egghead. Back when I was still alive, the girls in Dorami and I would occasionally have little parties to ourselves where we would go to a beach shore somewhere at late evening to early night, set up a bonfire, and basically just camp out, eating munchies, drinking soda, tell stories and just laugh the night away." With a slight chuckle, the delinquent zombie girl added, "I remember this one bonfire party where my old friend Reiko roasted a marshmallow over the bonfire for so long that the marshmallow ended up catching fire and making her freak out a bit."

Sigrid, with an amused look on her face, replied to Saki, "That actually sounds like one hell of a gathering, now that you mention it. And such a celebration would also see meats such as burger patties and hot dogs being cooked over the fire as well?" After Saki nodded in the affirmative to Sigrid, the half-foreign zombie girl turned to the rest of the group. "I say that we all go for it," Sigrid remarked, "We still need to do some sort of activity for us to learn and get to know about one another. This banquet on the beach that Saki speaks of sounds like the perfect chance for us to work that bonding time in."

Sakura nodded in agreement with Sigrid, happy that more and more of her fellow undead were not only interested in the idea of having a party amongst themselves to celebrate how far they've come thus far, but that Sigrid pointed out that such a party would be the perfect chance for all of them to learn more about one another, something that Sakura has been wanting to do ever since she, Lily and Junko learned a bit more about Ayumu from Kotaro. Getting up so that she stood at the table, Sakura said, "Then it's settled. We'll go for the bonfire party. Now all we have to do is find a suitable beach where we can-"

"Don't sweat it, Egghead," Saki remarked, cutting the long-haired zombie girl off midsentence, "I saw during one of my solo outings a few days ago that the usual beach where my old gang and I would have our parties at is still good to go. We can just use that."

Sakura, with a bit of an appreciative smile, nodded in acknowledgement towards Saki. "Thanks, Saki," Sakura said, then continued when she turned to face the rest of the girls, "Now we just need to gather what we'll need for the party. Various foodstuffs like marshmallows, burger patties, hot dogs and other things commonly eaten at camp outs should be on the list. We're also going to need to bring sodas, a cooler to put said sodas in, some roasting sticks to put the food that we stick in the bonfire on, maybe a few folding cha-"

"Is having a party where we're all going to be outside and potentially risk being outed as zombies such a good idea?" Ai interrupted, making Sakura and the other zombie girls all turn to face her. Letting out a sigh, the Heisei idol zombie girl continued, "Maybe we can just stay here and have a party in the mansion instead. No need to go outside at all." Out of the other nine zombie girls, only Sakura, Lily and Junko were able to pick up on a slight but (to them, at least) noticeable hint of alarm in Ai's tone.

Scoffing in a casual tone, Saki said, "All of us aside from Tae can use monster glamour, and we can just get Shades to give Tae the makeup treatment before we go. There's no need to worry about any random persons or whatever seeing us and learning that we're zombies. Also, there's some rumor going around that Tae being able to separate parts of her body from herself is some sort of power called a quirk, so if any of us have parts of our bodies such as our heads or an arm pop off, we can just pass it off as us having superpowers." Turning to face Sakura, Saki said with a look of mild amusement on her face, "I think that we have you to thank for coming up with that cover for us, Egghead. Way to go, girl."

Sakura nodded once in acceptance of the thanks from Saki, but before Sakura could actually say something, Ai said, "Well I still think that starting a fire out on the beach is a bad idea. I mean, what if a policeman catches us and has issue with us having a bonfire on the beach at night?" Once more, Sakura, Lily and Junko were the only ones who noticed the hint of alarm in the tone of the Heisei idol zombie girl. Furthermore, those three specific girls were able to gleam that most of Ai's alarm tended to come up when she specifically mentioned any form of fire by name. Thinking quickly, Sakura got all of the girls' attention.

"How about we try to keep the bonfire as close to the shore as we can make it," Sakura began, "That way if we need to put it out quickly, we can just dash really quickly to the water with buckets that we can fill up and carry over to douse the flames?"

"We can just use the sand on the beach for that, Egghead," Saki remarked, a look of mild confusion on her face as she folded her arms over her chest.

Turning to face Saki, Sakura said, "Well, we all don't necessarily have to stay around the bonfire that we start up, do we? We can spread out on the beach a little bit."

"…Yeah, we don't technically have to stick around the fire nonstop," the delinquent zombie girl remarked, a bit more confusion entering her tone and expression. Gently shaking her head, Saki continued, "But we can go over the finer details of the party later. For now, we ought to write up a list of what all we ought to bring with us to the bonfire. Oh!" To the zombie girls as a whole, Saki said, "Since we're going to the beach, we ought to bring some swim suits with us in case one of us feels like going for a swim in the-"

"Oh geez!" Ayumu said in a clearly worried tone, sounding like she had just suddenly realized something, "The beach is next to the ocean, or near some large inland body of water, isn't it?"

"Ayumu has an excellent point!" Ai declared, seemingly trying to take advantage of the teen actress zombie girl's suddenly panicking air that she was giving off, "The waters can be just as much of a danger as well!"

Letting out a resigned sigh, Saki said, "Relax, I know that Ayumu has aquaphobia. She doesn't have to go anywhere near the waters if she doesn't want to." With a look of mild consideration on her face, Saki continued, "In fact, I think that it would be best if we kept the bonfire as close to the threshold between the road and the beginning of the beach as possible." Hearing that the bonfire wouldn't be anywhere near the waters made Ayumu breathe a sigh of relief.

However, it could not be said that Ai was similarly as relieved as Ayumu. In fact, the idea that she was more or less having to go to an outdoor gathering where there would be an open fire had the Heisei idol zombie girl nervous, although once again only Sakura, Lily and Junko were able to pick up on this.

Those three zombie girls, having also noticed that Ai looked like she was trying to take advantage of Ayumu's aquaphobia in order to shoot down the idea of the bonfire party on the beach, figured that Ai was actually trying to _avoid_ the bonfire party, similar to how Ayumu tended to avoid bodies of water that she could get submerged in. Sakura, Lily and Junko all looked to each other and, without a word, nodded once in a group as they looked each other in the face, silently agreeing to seek Kotaro out to see if they could gleam anything about Ai that would help explain her so staunchly adamant about shooting down the bonfire party as an idea.

Out of the other zombie girls, only Saki noticed the silence exchange of agreement between Sakura, Lily and Junko.

* * *

Later that morning, Sakura, with Lily and Junko following her, proceeded to make their way over to Kotaro's office room in the abandoned mansion. Along the way, they ran into one of the men that's in cahoots with Kotaro; when Sakura and the others asked him if Kotaro was in his office, the man said that Kotaro was actually in one of the studio rooms that's used for sets for the filming of scenes in episodes of 'Saga Stories'.

When they got from that man what specific studio room Kotaro was in, Sakura and the others thanked the man before turning around and heading off in the appropriate direction. However, as Sakura, Lily and Junko were about halfway over to where the eccentric man was supposed to be at, they were met up by Saki, who wore a look on her face that strongly suggested that she was looking to get some answers.

"You girls looked like you had some sort of private agreement amongst yourselves during breakfast earlier," Saki began, her tone carrying mild accusatory hints and showing that she would not have any wool pulled over her eyes, "What sort of game are the three of you playing? You all aren't planning to shoot down the bonfire party idea, are you?"

"Junko, Lily and I all actually want to go for the bonfire party idea, Saki," Sakura informed the delinquent zombie girl, "We're only looking for Kotaro-san because we were hoping that he could fill in a few blanks for us concerning Ai."

Saki, taken a bit back in confusion by Sakura's explanation, said, "Ai? What about her?"

"I'm not sure if you noticed it, Saki," Junko began, "But Ai is rather adamant about us not having the bonfire party on the beach, and that she was particularly alarmed when she talked about the fire in and of itself." With concern for her fellow undead idol on her face, Junko went on, "I remember Ai saying something back when we were at the hot springs about how she has pyrophobia for reasons similar to why Ayumu has aquaphobia."

Folding her arms over her chest, Saki said to the girls while pointing to Lily, "Oh yeah, I think that Shrimpy here said something about Ayumu's death stemming from falling asleep in the bathtub while taking a bath and drowning as a result." After the child actress zombie girl gave an affirmative nod, Saki continued, "So you girls think that Ai's death has something to do with fire, and that's why she's so rattled by the prospect of having to go to the bonfire party?"

"We believe so, but we want Kotaro-san to confirm for us," Sakura replied, "He knows a lot about all ten of us, so he should be able to tell us for certain about how Ai died." Saki, after she considered what Sakura, Junko and Lily were up to for a few moments, nodded twice while she had her arms crossed.

"…Yeah, let me tag along with you girls," Saki said, "I want to know more about Ai myself and why exactly she's so rattled by fire." Sakura and the others, thankful that the leader of their actress troop was being so cooperative with them, agreed and brought Saki along with them for the trip to the studio room that Kotaro was working in at the time.

* * *

To say that Kotaro was surprised to see Sakura, Junko and Lily seek him out again to get some info on one of their fellow zombies out of him wouldn't exactly be true. However, his interest was piqued when he saw that Saki was part of the group this time. As some of the men that were in cahoots with him went about setting up a set for a scene in a 'Saga Stories' episode that they were gearing up to produce, Kotaro decided that he had some time to spare to answer whatever the four zombie girls that sought him out had to ask.

"I take it that you girls are looking to get something out of me on one of your fellow zombies from back when they were still alive?" the eccentric man asked, a hint of seriousness in his tone that showed that he was going to take the girls' questions seriously. After both of them nodded once in the affirmative, Sakura and Saki proceeded to explain to Kotaro everything that had taken place since breakfast; from the girls settling on a bonfire party on the beach to celebrate how well they've been doing as of late, right up to Ai's seemingly trying to avoid the bonfire party, as if driven by a deep-seated fear.

After he got all of the details from the four zombie girls, Kotaro let out a sigh. "…First off, I'll approve the bonfire party," Kotaro began, "You girls do have a point on how you all deserve to celebrate your recent successes, as well as how you all really need to get some bonding time in and get to know one another better so that you all can work together better. Also Saki, thanks for taking Ayumu's aversion of bodies of water that she could get submerged in into account by assuring her that she doesn't have to get anywhere close to the waters."

Crossing his arms over his chest, the eccentric man continued, "You girls are also in the right to seek me out to try and gleam into Ai's reasons for wanting to avoid anything having to do with fire." Looking up at the ceiling in the studio room that all of them were in, Kotaro said after he let out a mildly resigned sigh, "Ai's death wasn't exactly a pleasant one, let me tell you…"

(FLASHBACK)

(DATE: AUGUST 4TH, 2008)

The concert hall that the idol group Iron Frill was performing in at the time had caught on fire in the middle of their performance. All of the audience members all scrambled in something of a panic as they tried to stampede their way out of the concert hall as the flames began to consume everything that they came into contact with. The audience members weren't the only ones trying to flee in that panicked state, either; the people running the idol performance, as well as the idols themselves, all tried to run outside of the building where they would be safe from the flames.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Iron Frill's center performer, Ai Mizuno. The center performing idol, as she tried to run with her fellow members of their idol group, tripped and fell over, laying face-down on the stage as a support structure fell over and landed on top of her long ways across her back. Although nothing in Ai was broken when that support structure fell on top of her, it _did_ keep her pinned, unable to get up and run out of the burning concert hall before it was too late to escape the all-consuming inferno.

Ai, as she laid pinned under that support structure, watched with eyes that were being filled more and more with fear as the flames began to surround and get closer to her. The center performer idol was so overcome by her fear that she wasn't even able to cry out in fear. She did eventually cry out, but it was a mix of fear and _searing pain_ as the flames of the concert hall fire finally got to her and began burning her alive, igniting her cherished Iron Frill uniform as she was wearing it. The pain of the fires was so great that Ai, as she was screaming in pain, passed out, never to get back up again.

Ai's charred remains would not be recovered until the concert hall fire was finally put out. It was a pair of green firefighters fresh out of training at the firefighter academy, two young adult men named Shinra and Arthur, who were the ones who found the deceased remains of the late Iron Frill member as the rest of the firefighters went into the destroyed concert hall to see if there were any survivors or remains of deceased to be taken out. Neither Shinra nor Arthur were exactly amused when they were badgered by numerous members of the press, as well as some paparazzi, who all wanted an exclusive scoop from them on their discovering Ai's remains from the incinerated remains of the concert hall.

(FLASHBACK OVER)

"…So as you four can see," Kotaro remarked as he addressed Sakura, Saki, Junko and Lily while he wrapped up his story explaining why Ai had such an aversion to fire, "Your fellow zombie Ai is not exactly the biggest fan of fire in the world." The four zombie girls that stood there all wore looks of shocked horror on their respective faces, all of them having been left speechless by what the eccentric man had told them about the Heisei idol zombie girl.

"That…" Saki began as she was finally able to find some words, "…That is one really messed up way to die, Shades. And you're telling me and the girls here that Ai went through all of that?"

Kotaro nodded a few times in the affirmative, leaving Saki and the other girls that were there truly shocked. Granted, all of the zombie girls' respective demises were shocking, given that it's in the nature of the instance of a person dying to be shocking. But to think that one of their own had suffered so frightening and painful a death as Ai having been trapped in that concert hall fire and was burned alive for her troubles. It was Saki who first turned to face the other zombie girls that were there with her.

"…Girls," the delinquent zombie girl began, a hint of mildly worried concern in her tone, "What are we going to do with Ai? Should we do something different for the party altogether so that she doesn't have to get rattled by seeing any fire?"

Junko gently shook her head in the negative before saying, "That would be a bad idea given how many of the others are all looking forward to it. It would be in bad taste if we had to cancel plans that the majority of us are looking forward to just because one of us is rattled by a specific thing that happens during said plans."

"That didn't stop Shrimpy and Egghead for calling our hangout at the local park to a sudden end because Ayumu had an episode," Saki remarked with a mildly annoyed scoff, her arms crossed over her chest, "I mean, it's not like there was a pool or something similar at the park."

"Big Sis had a freak out when I surprised hugged her because she's autistic," Lily explained, "But that's getting off the subject here." Looking up at the older zombie girls, the child actress zombie said, "We need to think of what to do to both accommodate Ai so that she won't get overcome by her fear of fire while we're having the bonfire party on the beach and avoid having to cancel it because most of the rest of us are looking forward to it."

Kotaro, stepping forward, laid a hand on Saki's left shoulder, making her turn around and see him looking right at her. "…As you're the leader of Franchouchou," Kotaro began, "As well as the one who came up with the idea for the bonfire party at the beach, it's up to you to help your fellow zombie feel at ease at a gathering that has her apprehensive. You owe it both to Ai and to the other girls who unlike Ai don't have pyrophobia."

The delinquent zombie girl wore a look of mildly somber consideration on her face, feeling a bit guilty over getting everyone on board with an idea that has one of them freaking out terribly. Saki felt especially guilty as she remembered that she had been told, by Ai herself no less, in an earlier encounter that Ai had pyrophobia. As she stood there, going over a lot of things in her head, Saki snapped her fingers as she said, "I got it!"

"Hmm?" Sakura replied, her tone sounding with piqued interest, "What do you have, Saki?" In response, Saki gestured for Sakura, Junko and Lily to all huddle up and join her in a group huddle, telling them about a few ideas that she had in mind for when they and the other six girls all go to the beach for the bonfire party. Although they were all ideas that Saki had, just at that moment, come up with, Sakura and the others thought that some of them were actually really good; Lily even said that one of the ideas would be really cute if some of the girls working that specific idea wore appropriate outfits for it.

Seeing some of the zombie girls so readily working together to not only continue on with a plan that all of them were looking forward to but also taking into consideration some of the specific needs of a select few among their number, Kotaro could not help but smile. It was a small smile, but it just as well carried sufficient sincerity. The eccentric man knew that the ten specific girls that he selected for the 'Saga Stories' project were the right choices, and seeing displays like this from those very zombie girls just served as further validation for his ultimate plans.

* * *

Since a lot of the zombie girls were all working simultaneously, they were able to get everything for the bonfire party ready to go. As such, they ended up driving down to the beach that Saki had used in the past when she and her old delinquent gang would have parties on the beach. The sun was setting as the girls got their party set up; Saki made a comment about this, saying that it was the perfect timing as it reminded her of the similar parties that she took part in back when she was still alive.

At Saki's instructions, a few circles of seats had been set up on the beach, one about ten feet from where the bonfire was being set up, another about twenty feet away from the bonfire, close to where Kotaro (yes, he came along as well, even bringing Romero the zombie Japanese Chin) had the van parked in a small parking lot located between the beach and the road, and a third and final one located approximately twenty feet to the left of the second one; the three sitting circles formed the points of something of a triangle.

After she and Sigrid had finished bringing the cooler of sodas and set it down near the now roaring bonfire, Saki turned to face the other girls that were standing close to the third sitting circle. The delinquent zombie girl saw the look of fearful apprehension in Ai's expression, as her gaze fell upon the large open fire behind Saki and Sigrid. "Okay girls, here's what's going to go down here," Saki said as she and Sigrid approached the rest of the girls, "You all will take some seats at the circles that had been set up while Sigrid and I will handle the cooking."

"I hope you girls don't mind roasted meats," Sigrid remarked.

Nodding in agreement with her fellow undead delinquent, Saki continued, "While you girls sit and chat it up while Sigrid and I handle the cooking, Shrimpy right there-" Saki paused so she could gesture to Lily, who wore a cute beach-themed waitress uniform, "-Will take your orders and relay them back to me and Sigrid. This way, there aren't a bunch of us all crowded around the bonfire, which would make things more dangerous for all of us."

The other zombie girls all looked like they thought that Saki's set up sounded logically sound; that went much more so for Sakura, Junko and Lily, all of which discussed this with Saki earlier. Ai seemed particularly relieved that she didn't have to go anywhere near the fire, letting out a sigh of relief as she followed Sakura and Ayumu over to the third sitting circle, which Sakura had chosen as it was one of the ones located furthest from the fire.

…

The bonfire party on the beach was going pretty well, Sakura had to admit. It didn't take long until she, Ai and Ayumu all had their food and some sodas; Ayumu was particularly happy that Saki and Sigrid had honey mustard as one of the condiments for the burgers and hot dogs. Sakura explained to the teen actress zombie girl that Kotaro told her (Sakura) and Saki that she (Ayumu) liked honey mustard over all other condiments, so Saki had made sure to bring along a bottle of honey mustard for the food.

Every so often, Ai would look up from her food and over to where the bonfire was going, shudder a bit before putting her attention right back to her food. On Ai's fourth time doing this, Sakura had taken notice. "…You're still worried about the fire, aren't you Ai?" Sakura asked the Heisei idol zombie girl.

"…Yes," Ai admitted in a defeated tone, sighing in a resigned tone as she did so, "I'm really sorry, but the idea of being so close to a large amount of fire like that has me scared."

"I understand how you feel," Ayumu remarked, getting Ai to turn to look at her. With a single nod, the teen actress zombie girl continued, "I mean, we're also really close to the ocean, and that has me feeling very uncomfortable. But even so, the ocean is too far away to hurt me, and I don't have to go anywhere close to it." Pointing over to where the bonfire was located, Ayumu continued, "The bonfire is too far away from you to hurt you, and you are under no obligation to get close to it. That being said, you don't have to worry about it too much. At least I don't think so."

Ai, after hearing what Ayumu had to say, looked a bit surprised by the sudden wisdom that had just come from Ayumu's mouth. Ai looked to relax a bit, having been comforted by Ayumu's reassuring words. As Ai, Ayumu and Sakura sat around and talked, they were joined by Saki, carrying a plate with a burger and a hot dog in one hand and a can of cola in the other. "Hey, you girls don't mind if I join you all, do you?" the delinquent zombie girl asked as she sat down.

"Thanks again for suggesting this idea, Saki," Sakura remarked, "A party on the beach is actually pretty fun, all things considered."

"Now you girls know how I felt back when my old gang and I would party it up on the beach back in the day," Saki replied, a bit of self-amused pride in her tone. The delinquent zombie girl turned her attention to Ai; Saki, when she sat down to join Ai and the others, sat in a spot that made it so that Ai couldn't be able to see the bonfire without having to lean to one of her sides enough. Realizing that the fire was being blocked from her immediate field of vision, Ai relaxed a bit more.

Seeing the Heisei idol zombie girl visibly relax, Saki said in a casual yet sympathetic tone, "How are you holding up, Ai? You seemed to have relaxed just now."

Sighing, Ai said, "Yeah, Sakura told me about how she, you, Lily and Junko asked Kotaro about me and how I died in that concert hall fire." Gently shaking her head, Ai continued, "Sorry that my pyrophobia nearly ruined the party here on the beach before it even began."

"Pfft, don't sweat it, Ai," Saki replied, completely understanding, "It's partly my fault anyway, since I forgot that you told me earlier about how you're afraid of fire." Turning to face Ayumu, Saki added, "Also, sorry that I didn't take you being afraid of water into account when I first came up with the idea to have our party here on the beach, Ayumu."

The teen actress zombie girl nodded in acknowledgement of Saki's apology. "It's okay, Saki," Ayumu replied, "It's not like you or any of the other girls here are forcing me to go anywhere near the ocean."

Saki nodded once to Ayumu, thankful that she was so accepting of the apology. "…Oh, by the way, Ayumu," Saki began in a casual and conversational tone, "Shades mentioned to me that you have something called autism." With a curious look on her face, Saki continued, "What does that mean, exactly?" Sakura immediately looked alarmed that Saki would so blatantly bring the subject up, as the long-haired zombie girl was under the impression that it wasn't exactly something that Ayumu would be all that comfortable discussing with others. However, and to Sakura's mild surprise, Ayumu didn't seem to be all that bothered by Saki's question.

"Oh, there's no one cover-all answer, as autism is slightly different from person to person that has it because it tends to affect people differently," Ayumu began to explain, "But to put things in simple terms, having autism means that I'm wired a little bit differently from others that don't have it, meaning I do things and tend to act in certain ways that other people usually don't do or act in said ways."

Saki, with a mildly amused smirk on her face, remarked, "So you essentially just march to the beat of your own drum." Saki's comment drew a confirming nod from Ayumu, who agreed with the comparison that the delinquent zombie girl had just made. "Yeah, I got no problem with folks who like to do things their own way," Saki said, "Just glad to know more about what makes you tick." With a mildly concerned look on her face, Saki said, "Umm, sorry if me bringing this up made you feel uncomfortable in any way."

"It's no problem," Ayumu replied in an understanding tone, "Although now that you mention it, I'm surprised that this wasn't something that Mr. Kotaro covered with the rest of you girls. I mean, I distinctly remember from back when I was still alive that my mom told the various assistants that she hired to look after me that I have autism." Looking at Saki, Sakura and Ai, the teen actress zombie girl asked, "Don't you think that this should have been covered earlier?"

"Me, Junko and Lily already know, but none of the others do," Sakura explained, "We ought to look into letting the others know soon, though." Ai, Saki and Ayumu all nodded in agreement with the long-haired zombie girl, but their plans would happen at a later time. For now, they and the rest of the zombie girls had a bonfire party on the beach to enjoy. With the camaraderie that was being spread around, Ai felt very much at ease, even forgetting that there was an open fire about twenty or so feet away from her.

The Heisei idol zombie girl was glad that her fellow undead were being understanding of her and patient with her as well.

* * *

The following day over at the office building where the Sagazine Editorial Department was located, the slightly older man that was in charge of the operations was sitting at his desk in his workspace, with the young adult man that worked under him standing off to the side, as he was talking to a male high school student that had come by to seemingly deliver something to them. The high school looked to be either late first year or early second year.

The high schooler had medium-long ink black hair and he wore a red headband, and he wore a green long-sleeved blazer over a white dress shirt that had the first few buttons from the collar undone, revealing a little bit of his chest but only enough to also show a pendent with a charm in the shape of a wolf's head. The high schooler also wore light tannish pants and black shoes. The neck strap of a moderately high-quality camera rested around the boy's neck as the camera said strap was attached to hung casually over the boy's torso, between where his chest end and his stomach began.

"So, Mr. Sagazine," the high schooler said to the slightly older man, the hint of amusement in the high schooler's tone suggesting that he was playfully referring to the slightly older man by some manner of nickname, "I don't suppose that these photos that I got will be sufficient for the article that your news magazine and blog here wants to put out, are they?" The high schooler then took out a yellow envelope, the kind flat things tended to be put into before being mailed, opened it, and took out a few photographs that were inside, handing said photographs over to Mr. Sagazine as he was apparently called.

Mr. Sagazine, and his slightly younger underling when he came over to take a closer look, looked at the photographs that the high school boy had taken out. To their surprise, all of the photos showed the girls of the actress troop Franchouchou hanging out on a beach, seemingly having a bonfire party. Of all media that displayed any of the Franchouchou girls that wasn't released by their managers, these photos were by far the highest quality.

The men that were working in the Sagazine Editorial Department couldn't believe it; all of their efforts to get even one bit of outside info on even just one of the Franchouchou girls ended up being moot, but this random high school boy that was interested in the pay that they offered for photos on those actresses was able to get clear, unfuzzy images of the ten girls relaxing and having an all around good time. Mr. Sagazine was particularly happy with one photo that showed numbers three and seven with numbers one and two, along with one other photo that showed numbers four and six with number nine.

"…This is incredible," Mr. Sagazine remarked, amazed that a kid who was still a high schooler was able to do on his first try what Mr. Sagazine himself and the rest of the Sagazine Editorial Department staff failed to do multiple times in a row, "You have a talent with getting photos that those who have been in the business longer than you could only dream of, young man." Looking up at the high school boy, Mr. Sagazine asked, "What school did you say you go to again?"

"My classmates and I used to go to Yokai Academy, out in the country," the high school boy explained. Gesturing to the outfit he wore, the high school boy continued, "In fact, this is my uniform from Yokai Academy." Gently shaking his head, the high school boy went on, "But my classmates and I recently had to evacuate the campus for reasons our teachers have yet to fill us in on. As it stands right now, my classmates and I have resumed our classes over at Azu-Daioh High School."

"Oh, I actually heard about that on the news," the young adult man said to Mr. Sagazine, "I heard that the campus had to go through mass reconstruction and fumigation."

Gently shaking his head, the high school boy said, "That does sound logical, but if that was the truth then my teachers would have informed me and the rest of the students from Yokai about it by this point. This story of reconstruction and fumigation sounds like it was made up on the fly."

Leaning back in his chair, Mr. Sagazine remarked with an agreeing nod, "Well this certainly does sounds like it would make for a rather interesting story, but right now we've got to focus on uncovering as much as we can about the girls of Franchouchou."

"Oh, I actually heard a few snippets of what some of the girls in this photo said," the high school boy said as he leaned forward slightly and used his right index finger to tap the photo that had numbers one, two, three and seven, "I couldn't hear everything that the girls in this photo said as I didn't want to risk getting closer to hear better, which would have run a high risk of my cover being blown. However, I was able to make out that number three said that she has pyrophobia, and that number seven says that she has autism."

The information that the high school boy had provided to Mr. Sagazine and his underling made both men go a bit wide-eyed with surprise. Mr. Sagazine turned slightly to his side to face his computer, typing away a bit in order to pull up some documents he whipped up; these documents had every theory about all ten of the Franchouchou girls that he and his men in the Sagazine Editorial Department was able to come up with. In particular, one of those documents went over how numbers three, four, six and seven greatly resemble late idols and actresses that died at various points over the course of the last two and a half decades or so.

"…Number three closely resembles the late Iron Frill member Ai Mizuno, who died when the concert hall her group performed in at the time was destroyed in a fire," Mr. Sagazine remarked, his tone suggesting that he found a lot of coincidences here, "And number seven closely resembles the late teen actress Ayumu Akarui, who was confirmed by interviews with old Akarui family assistants to be autistic." Turning his attention to the young adult man that worked under him, Mr. Sagazine said, "Seems rather suspicious that the girl that resembles Ai is afraid of fire, and the one that resembles Ayumu is autistic, don't you think?"

Nodding in agreement, the young adult man said, "It would be an even greater coincidence if number four had amaxophobia, and if number six is wary of people armed with knives." This time, it was Mr. Sagazine who nodded in agreement. After he nodded in agreement with what his underling said, Mr. Sagazine turned to face the high school boy. The head of the Sagazine Editorial Department, while keeping his eyes on the high school boy, opened a drawer in his desk, pulled out a letter envelope that seemed to bulge a little bit, closed the desk drawer, then handed the envelope over to the high school boy.

As the high school boy took the envelope and peeked inside, seeing a rather generous amount of paper yen bills, Mr. Sagazine said, "The photos that you've brought here, as well as what little bits of information you were able to gleam from listening in on the Franchouchou girls, is worth more than what I'm able to pay you for here. However, if you're able to do something like this again, I won't object to it. Your services in helping us uncover just who exactly the girls of the actress troop Franchouchou are is invaluable, umm…" Chuckling a bit in an embarrassed tone, Mr. Sagazine said, "I don't think that I ever got your name, young man. Sorry about that, by the way."

"It's alright, sir," the high school boy replied in an understanding tone, "My name's Ginei Morioka."

"Well, Mr. Morioka," Mr. Sagazine replied, "You've been a huge boon to our efforts here. Thanks again." Ginei nodded once before he took his leave from the Sagazine Editorial Department. He strolled through the building until he walked outside, walking right over to a bench where another male high school student, wearing a uniform similar to what Ginei himself was wearing, was seemingly waiting.

This male Yokai Academy student had shoulder-length black hair that was in a slightly more formal style than the casual and somewhat wild looking mane that Ginei had going. Looking up to Ginei, the other male high school student said, "So Ginei, how did things go in there?" In response to his fellow's question, Ginei pulled out the envelope that held the payment that he got for the photos of the Franchouchou girls that he submitted to the Sagazine Editorial Department.

With a somewhat self-amused look, Ginei replied, "I don't know, Tsukune. You tell me."

With an amused chuckle, the other male high school student, apparently named Tsukune, got up from the bench and walked the few feet to where Ginei was standing. "It still strikes me as odd that all of those Franchouchou girls are being as secretive as they are," Tsukune remarked, "I mean, with all of this cloak and dagger stuff that they're doing, you'd think that they all belong to various races of monsters, instead of all of them being humans like everyone thinks they are."

"About that, dude," Ginei said as he put his envelope of money away, a hint of curious concern in his tone, "While I was hiding nearby where the girls were having their bonfire on the beach, I was able to catch brief wisps of what they all smelled like. I was too far away to get a clear cut idea of what they all are specifically, but I have very strong reason to believe that all of the Franchouchou girls are all some manner of undead-type monsters." Gently shaking his head, Ginei continued, "That theory got more strength when the guy who paid me said that four of the girls in Franchouchou all look like idols and actresses who died in the past."

Tsukune crossed his arms over his chest, a look of contemplation on his face. "…You think that this will warrant some further investigation?" Tsukune asked.

Nodding in agreement, Ginei replied, "We can get Yukari and Ruby to divine some info on those Franchouchou girls, given that the two of them are both skilled in using magic. Mizore would be useful as well, given all the stealth practice she gets in when she secretly follows you around."

"Heh," Tsukune remarked, a hint of embarrassment in his tone, "Please don't remind me."

"Our new guy, Draco, will also be very useful," Ginei replied, "Given his superior stealth skills, as well as his sense of smell that far exceeds even mine." Nodding once in the affirmative, Ginei continued, "I bet that Draco will be able to confirm if what I believe about those girls that are in Franchouchou being some manner of undead-type monster race is true. He may even be able to confirm their specific race, assuming that they _are_ undead-type." Tsukune nodded in agreement with Ginei and, with their business there done, the two high school boys both took their leave.

END, SAGA STORIES CHAPTER FIVE

Author's notes:

Although Ai's cause of death here is different than what it is in the series proper, along with the fact that this chapter features a bonfire party on a beach whereas there was no such party in the anime, this chapter is still essentially the counterpart that explores Ai's past, as well as give the Heisei idol zombie girl some much-needed development along with the other girls learning more about her thus being able to understand her better. Additionally, this chapter shows that Reiko and Nagi from the previous chapter are far from the only people that interested in the girls of Franchouchou, and how said girls resemble deceased girls from the past; this chapter also puts a bit more effort into showing that Sakura and her fellow zombies are all part of a larger setting than any of them currently realize.

Anyway, this chapter had a mix of plot points from episodes six and seven, and overall was tailored to be about Ai. The next chapter I'm aiming to base more around Junko, as she received a similar amount of attention during the same time frame. I've also been wanting to go over Junko's death in this AU story's setting, which not only is different than what Junko went through in the anime, but said death in this story has been hinted at in a few of the chapters thus far. It's something that I'm looking forward to getting cracking on.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Zombie Land Saga, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Saga Stories: A tale of Zombie Land Saga

Chapter six: Zombies, actresses and automobiles

The girls of the actress troop Franchouchou had an awesome time during the previous night, where they had a bonfire on a beach and partied well into the night. They ended up camping out for the night on that beach, woke up a bit early, packed everything up into Kotaro's van, got everything back to the abandoned mansion in Saga, put anything that needed to be stored back into storage, and relaxed a bit in one of the larger rooms in the mansion.

At around eight-forty-five in the morning, Sakura found herself with Saki and Lily in one of the rooms, with Hikari sitting off to the side engrossed in playing some game on a Playtendo Swap Lite, and Sigrid laying on the floor off to the side in another area of the room, fast asleep and snoring away. "Last night's party on the beach was pretty great," Sakura remarked in a conversational tone to Saki and Lily, "Wouldn't you girls agree?"

"Heh," Saki chuckled a bit to herself in a self-amused tone, "I'm glad that I thought of it."

"We were also able to learn a little bit more about Ai," Lily pointed out, "We can work better with Ai now that we know to avoid putting her in situations that would have her be in close proximity to open flames."

Sakura nodded in agreement with the child actress zombie girl. "You got a point there, Lily," Sakura began, "There's still a lot about all of us that we all have to learn so we can work better together, but we're making considerable progress either way, if you think about it." Letting out a mildly troubled sigh, the long-haired zombie girl remarked, "I'm not quite sure what to do about some of the other girls, though. Especially Junko, since you and I have worked with her a few times before, yet we know hardly anything about her aside from how she was an idol back in the late Showa period." With a mildly curious look on her face, Sakura said, "Speaking of Junko, do any of you know where she might be?"

Both Lily and Saki looked like they were contemplating the question, going over in their heads any possible area that they could think of where the Showa idol zombie girl might be. About midway through Lily and Saki's brainstorming, Hikari looked over at where the other girls were sitting and called out, "If you girls want to locate Junko, why don't you try checking the dance studio room where we trained to master using monster glamour?"

Sakura, Lily and Saki all looked over at the gamer zombie girl with mildly surprised looks on their faces. "What makes you think that, Hikari?" Sakura asked.

"I found Junko in that room a few times since all of us have mastered monster glamour," Hikari began to explain, "Junko told me that she likes to use that room if she wants to be by herself for whatever reason. The last few times I found her in there, she was going over moves that looked like part of a dance routine that idols would use in a live performance."

Nodding a few times in agreement with Hikari's assessment, Lily remarked, "Junko did used to be an idol back when she was still alive."

"Maybe she's trying to figure out how to convert her idol experience over to help better serve her now that she's an actress?" Saki guessed more than asked, giving an indifferent shrug as she talked to Sakura and Lily. Crossing her arms over her chest, the delinquent zombie girl went on, "Junko's got a lot of experience being a famous entertainer, but said experience isn't exactly for the type of entertainment that she finds herself doing now. Like I said, my guess is that she's just trying to work out a few kinks so that she can function better as an actress."

Sakura nodded once in agreement, glad that Saki had such an understanding of her fellow undead. Turning her attention over to Hikari, Sakura asked, "What do you make of that, Hikari? Does it sound like a logical idea to you?"

Hikari put her Playtendo Swap Lite into sleep mode before returning her attention over to the long-haired zombie girl. "It does sound like something that's believable to me," Hikari said, "I mean, the concept sounds very similar to some video games I used to play where my character would fill out a skill branch to get a few stat bonuses and some new techniques, and those all were mine to keep regardless of what vocation my character was using. Junko sounds like she's trying to figure out how the skills and stat bonuses she earned in her idol vocation can carry over and be used in her actress vocation."

"Hmm," Saki remarked with a mildly contemplative hum, "That's an interesting way to put it."

Nodding once, Hikari remarked, "I tend to find things more easily explainable if they're put in the concept of working in video games." Picking her Playtendo Swap Lite back up, the gamer zombie girl continued, "Now then ladies, unless you need me for anything else, I'm going to go ahead and get back into my game here."

"Don't you usually play your games in the room that we all set our futons up in when we all go to bed?" Sakura asked rhetorically.

Hikari let out a mildly annoyed and exasperated sigh before she began to explain, "I would be in there right now, but I felt it prudent to vacate for the time being when Yugiri did something to get on Ayumu's nerves, resulting in those two getting into a spat with each other. Also, Tae chasing Ai around the room not only made things less ideal for me to remain in there and play my game, but it also served to further aggravate the Yugiri-v-Ayumu argument."

Saki let out a sigh of her own before remarking, "Shades has got to do something to get Tae to better behave herself. It also wouldn't hurt if he wasn't so willing to let Yugiri get away with all the stuff she does that aggravates some of the rest of us." Crossing her arms over her chest, Saki continued, "I mean, as an example, I can understand why Sigrid gets as angry at Yugiri as she does whenever she interrupts someone having an epiphany and tells that person the same thing that they're currently in the middle of real-"

The delinquent zombie girl was cut off when Kotaro himself came bursting into the room, startling Sakura, Saki, Lily and Hikari while also rousing Sigrid from her nap. "What manner of jest is this?" the half-foreign zombie girl said as she slowly sat herself up in an upright sitting position on the floor. Turning to look at the eccentric man, Sigrid continued with a mildly annoyed-looking scowl on her face, "You could have at least made a less noisy entrance and gently roused me from my slumber instead of bursting in randomly."

"We have a major emergency, ladies!" Kotaro said suddenly, "Everyone to the meeting room in the basement now! The other girls are all already down there!" Clapping his hands together very quickly, Kotaro exclaimed, "GO, GO, GO, GO, GO!" Sakura was more than a little bit worried when Kotaro mentioned a 'major emergency', and was wondering just what exactly was going on. The long-haired zombie girl hoped that things wouldn't be all that bad when she and the others got an explanation from Kotaro during the upcoming meeting down in the basement of the abandoned mansion.

* * *

Sakura and the other nine girls of Franchouchou all sat in a row of folding chairs that was set up in front of the chalkboard that was in the meeting room. Sakura wasn't the only one who seemed nervous about what Kotaro may potentially tell her and the rest of the zombie girls; both Junko and Ai also looked worried, and Ayumu was on the verge of a complete and total freak out, only being kept calm by Lily reassuring her constantly.

The long-haired zombie girl was beginning to dread what Kotaro may tell her and the rest of Franchouchou. Did ratings for 'Saga Stories' drop a little bit? Are they facing some emergency problems with the budget? There were so many possibilities that it was fit to make Sakura's head swim. Fortunately for Sakura, she didn't have to worry about what was going on for too much longer when Kotaro entered the room, walked over to the chalkboard and stood right in front of it. Kotaro then let out a resigned sigh, as if what was going on was partly his fault.

Turning his attention to all ten of the girls, Kotaro said with a hint of resignation in his tone, "I should have thought twice before I gave you girls the okay to have that bonfire party on the beach." Hearing Kotaro say that he might have potentially had to axe the bonfire party idea made some of the girls let out confused, questioning sounds.

"What do you mean, Shades?" Saki asked, "How could last night have been a problem? We didn't cause any disturbances, and we were even able to work out a few things with some of us so that we can avoid some future problems." Crossing her arms over her chest, Saki continued, "Wasn't that one of the reason you okay-ed the party in the first place? For us to get to know each other better?"

"Don't get me wrong, the party went flawlessly, and on paper it was a good idea that I am glad to see helped bring some of you girls closer to understanding each other," Kotaro remarked. With a sigh, Kotaro continued, "But there was something that I had failed to take into account when I took you girls down to that beach so that you could have your bonfire party." Kotaro then placed his hand on the far right side of the chalkboard, gripped it, and turned it around so that the other side was shown to the zombie girls.

To their surprise, the zombie girls found a number of printed sheets taped to the other side of the chalkboard. The content of those sheets varied, but the girls saw that all of the sheets had info that revolved around Franchouchou. Lily, Junko, Ai and (especially) Ayumu were a bit alarmed to see that their respective faces appeared each in a different printed sheet that was taped to the chalkboard. Although Lily, Junko, Ai and Ayumu were the most rattled as they were apparently being targeted specifically, all of the zombie girls (aside from the unawakened Tae) were on the unsettled side of things when they saw this spread of info that some had clearly gone to rather big lengths to get ahold of.

Giving the side of the chalkboard with the printed sheets a slap, Kotaro let out a mildly resigned sigh. "…Apparently," Kotaro said, "As it turns out, ever since the 'Saga Stories' project took off like a rocket, there's been a few people out there who seemingly recognized some of you girls, with especial focus on Lily, Junko, Ai and Ayumu since they used to be famous back when they were all respectively alive."

"So some creeps out there are trying to track down any and every bit that they can get on us," Saki scoffed, sounding more annoyed than worried, "It's not like they were able to get anything solid on any of us due to how well you've been controlling the output of info on us."

"That's part of why I should have thought twice before giving the bonfire party idea the okay," Kotaro went on, "I can't believe why I didn't think of this, and I also can't believe that none of us even realized it while we were on the beach, but a freelance paparazzi was hiding nearby, taking a few photos of you girls. That very person ended selling the photos that he or she took to Sagazine Productions, a company here in Saga that puts out a local monthly magazine called Sagazine Today."

The zombie girls were unsure what to make of what Kotaro had just told them. …Well, all of them aside from Junko. The Showa idol zombie girl stood up rather forcefully as soon as Kotaro had finished giving her and the others the initial explanation. "You have got to be kidding me," Junko began, looking like someone had just told her something that greatly offended her, "We were being spied on by a member of the paparazzi at a time where we were supposed to be free of having to worry about the media?"

"Not only that," Kotaro went on, "But apparently, Sagazine Productions is trying to do something of a private investigation into you girls. Specifically you Junko, as well as Lily, Ai and Ayumu. Hence why all of you have enlarged photos up here on the board." After he gave the board another pat, Kotaro said, "The paparazzi that sold those photos to Sagazine Productions also overheard that Ai has pyrophobia and that Ayumu is autistic, which Sagazine Productions says 'further connects numbers three and seven to the late idol and late teen actress that they respectively resemble', as was quoted in the article in their latest issue that goes on about Ai and Ayumu." Letting out another sigh, Kotaro said, "I'm not really blaming you girls for this major leak of privacy. If anything, it's my fault, really."

Junko flumped back down into the chair that she was sitting in, her arms crossed over her chest and an annoyed, angry scowl over her face. "Well this is just great," the Showa idol zombie girl scoffed, "It took just one little slipup on our part and bam! We're being investigated and stalked by the paparazzi." Letting out an annoyed huff, Junko went on, "It's like nineteen-eighty-three all over again. Lovely. Just plain lovely."

Looking over to Kotaro, Sakura asked, "Do we at least know the identity of the paparazzi that spied on us last night while we were having our bonfire party on the beach?"

Kotaro gently shook his head in the negative. "Unfortunately," Kotaro began to explain with a hint of resignation in his tone, "Sagazine Productions has a policy where they refuse to disclose the identity of those who sell photos and info to them, saying that to do otherwise would 'be a huge hit to the integrity of the media profession'. All that was gathered when the subject was pressed was that the paparazzi who took those photos of you girls from last night is a high school student." Scoffing, Kotaro said, "We couldn't even get if it was a boy or a girl, or what high school said student goes to."

As the girls sat in partly stunned silence, Junko got up suddenly, a very annoyed look on her face. "I'm going right back to the dance studio room," the Showa idol zombie girl declared, "I have some frustration that I need to work off." Junko then stormed out of the meeting room in the basement before any of the other zombie girls or Kotaro could stop her (not that Kotaro was actually going to stop Junko, mind you). Sakura tried to go after Junko, but Kotaro stopped the long-haired zombie girl immediately after she got up from her chair.

"Junko just needs some time to cool off, Sakura," Kotaro explained to the other zombie girls, sounding a mix of calm and understanding, "You girls should just let her have some time to herself. We all have our unique ways of dealing with stress. If going through some dance move routines that she used back when she was a living solo idol helps Junko de-stress, then we ought to give her the space that she needs."

"Solo idol?" Ai repeated, a hint of curious confusion in her tone, "I thought that Junko was part of an idol group."

Kotaro turned to face Ai, his understanding expression never changing. "Ah, I forgot that there are differences between you and Junko when it comes to the idol profession due to what periods the two of you respectively operated in," Kotaro remarked, "Since you girls are being geared more towards acting rather than idol performances, I didn't think too much of those differences. Heh, I guessed that's another ball that I dropped, huh?" Facing the remaining girls as a whole, Kotaro said, "I'm sure that all of you girls already know this about your co-actresses Junko and Ai, but the former was an idol back during the Showa era and the latter was an idol during the Heisei era."

"My, time certainly does fly on by while you're dead," Yugiri remarked, a hint of very mild amusement in her tone, "I was alive during the Meiji era, and now I've come to learn that there's been both a Showa and a Heisei era." Looking over to Kotaro, the courtesan zombie girl asked, "I don't suppose that you know what the current era is called, do you Kotaro?"

"We're currently in the Reiwa era," Kotaro replied, "It began earlier in 2019 at the beginning of May. But we're getting off subject here." To the zombie girls as a whole, Kotaro said, "Because of this little incident, I'm going to have to go over everything with a fine-tooth comb before I can give a yes or no answer on any side activities that you girls do. I'm sorry about how doing this will be potentially restrictive towards you girls, but word of you girls being zombies getting out is the absolute last thing that we need right now."

The zombie girls sat in silence as they watched Kotaro turn around and carefully remove all of the printed sheets of paper that were taped up to that side of the chalkboard. As the eccentric man went about this business, the girls slowly got up and, with Kotaro not stopping any of them, they all left the basement room, going about their usual business as much as they could.

* * *

Later in the abandoned mansion, as Kotaro and some of his men were going about trying to do some measure of damage control in light of Sagazine Productions releasing their latest issue that had all of that info on the girls, the girls themselves were hanging out all throughout the mansion. Saki was sitting on a sofa in one of the room as she watched TV with Sigrid. Lily was looking at what she had for a wardrobe and wondering how to make her somewhat limited options work for her while Ayumu stood by and kept an eye on her (the teen actress zombie girl had taken something of a shine to the 'big sister' role that Lily had assigned to her).

Hikari, as what can be regularly expected out of her, was engrossed in her Playtendo Swap Lite again, Tae was trying to fight Romero the zombie Japanese Chin over a piece of dried squid snack that the former found, and Yugiri was sitting on one of the upper floor patios that faced into the backyard area of the abandoned mansion, enjoying a drag from her Meiji era smoking pipe. The courtesan zombie girl seemed particularly interested in her pipe, as it was now serving as a reminder of just how many eras had passed her since her death so long ago.

However, not _all_ of the girls were enjoying the leisure time that they suddenly found on their hands. Sakura and Ai, both still concerned about Junko's little episode upon her hearing that she was being watched by paparazzi during the bonfire party, went about trying to track down the Showa idol zombie girl. "Are you sure that trying to find Junko now, while she's still fuming over what we just learned, is a good idea?" Ai asked as she followed Sakura to the dance studio room that had more or less become Junko's haven.

"Look Ai," Sakura began, "It goes without saying that our meeting down in the basement room with Kotaro-san earlier has us all shaken to varying degrees. Hell, I'm still a bit unsettled myself since I just found out that someone with a camera was spying on us, taking photos of us to sell to the tabloids while we were supposed to be having a great time." With a sigh, Sakura continued, "But Junko is clearly the most shaken by what we were told earlier. I think that we really ought to try and see if we can do anything for her."

The Heisei idol zombie girl was still not exactly sure if bothering her Showa counterpart while said counterpart was steamed, but she could not argue with Sakura's reasoning, also believing that reaching out to her fellow undead when they are troubled is a good gesture. Ai nodded to herself once as she followed Sakura into the dance studio room that Junko was using to get some tension off of herself.

Even before they opened the door into the dance studio room, Sakura and Ai could already hear the music that Junko had playing so she could dance to it; Sakura half-expected music that would be right at home for an idol from the early nineteen-eighties such as Junko. However, the long-haired zombie girl recognized the song that she and Ai were currently hearing coming from the dance studio room as a song from an anime series from the early nineteen-eighties instead.

"_Is_…" Sakura thought, a look of mildly confused wondering on her face, "…_Is that Cha_-_La Head_-_Cha_-_La that Junko is listening to_?" Opening the door, Sakura walked into the dance studio room, with Ai close on her heels. Sakura and Ai stood a little bit past the doorway as they watched Junko dance. The Showa idol zombie girl was so caught up in going over one of her old dance routines from back when she was still a living idol that she failed to notice that Sakura and Ai had just shown up.

When the song that Junko had playing ended, Junko walked over to the radio that she was using to play the song. After she pressed a button on the radio to turn it off, Junko turned around and, before she could go about doing whatever it was that she had planned, she heard some clapping; turning around slightly, Junko spotted Sakura and Ai standing there, both of them applauding her performance just now. "That was amazing, Junko," Ai praised, "It was really amazing for me to get to see how an idol from a different era than me work her dancing magic."

"Ai has a point," Sakura remarked, "Also, good choice in song to dance to. I wasn't even aware that you were familiar with 'Dragon Ball'."

Junko, although a bit put off by how she just realized that she had been caught dancing by herself, soon relaxed, understanding that Sakura and Ai were both being sincere. Junko could also tell that they both came here looking for her, and were probably concerned about how she had acted during the emergency meeting a few minutes ago. The Showa idol zombie girl stood up straight and turned to properly face Sakura and Ai.

"…It's a song that came after my time," Junko began to explain to her surprise visitors, "Hikari introduced it to me while she was telling me about various animes that she is into and asking me if I remember some of the older ones on her list." With a bit of a mildly embarrassed look on her face, Junko continued, "I have to admit, it quickly became my favorite song, even beating out every other song that I remember from my time."

"You seemed really upset during the meeting earlier," Ai began, concern clear in her tone and expression, "Especially at the end where you suddenly got up and stormed out. I'm guessing that you aren't exactly fond of the paparazzi, Junko?"

A hint of annoyance entered Junko's expression, giving her a bit of a scowling look. "That would be putting things mildly, Ai," Junko began. With a resigned sigh, Junko turned to face Sakura and asked, "Do you remember the rap battle that you and I had against each other over at Saga castle?"

Sakura, with an embarrassed expression, replied, "I'm still a little embarrassed over how I lost myself back there." Looking at Junko, Sakura continued, "But yes, I do. I'm guessing that the rap battle has something to do with what you want to tell me and Ai?"

The Showa idol zombie girl nodded twice in the affirmative before she began to explain herself. "Remember the one line that I said during the rap," Junko started, "Where I said 'I died while riding from a chase'?" With a resigned, troubled sigh, Junko continued, "Well, it ties closely to my extreme disdain for the paparazzi."

"Wait a minute," Ai said suddenly, "I think that you said something about how the last thing you remember before you woke up as a zombie was that you were fleeing from overeager fans and the paparazzi in a car." Looking Junko in the face, Ai asked, "I'm guessing that said memory of yours relates to how you died?"

Junko nodded briskly twice in the affirmative. "…Yes," Junko replied, her tone somber, "I was actually taking a ride to the airport at the time as I was gearing up to go on a tour." The Showa idol zombie girl let out a sigh before she continued, "However, word of my trip had gotten out, and as such the car I was riding in ended up trying to drive away from a chase…"

(FLASHBACK)

(DATE: DECEMBER 6TH, 1983)

"Those blasted media hounds just won't give you a break, Miss Konno!" a chauffeur that was driving a car exclaimed in a clearly annoyed tone, trying to get away from a few cars that were driving after him. In the backseat of the car sat Junko, who had a pair of suitcases on the seat next to her. The white-haired girl was clearly rattled by the fact that she was being chased by people that wanted to pester her, trying to get whatever exclusive scoop or photo that they could get away with.

Junko dared to sneak a peek out the rear view window of the car, seeing a few more cars join the chase with the ones that her chauffeur had already identified as belonging to paparazzi members. "Those don't look like they're from any source of media," Junko remarked as her chauffeur as she pointed out the newly joined cars, which the chauffeur barely noticed before he immediately returned his attention to the road.

"My guess is that those are overeager fans that heard about your ride to the airport and want to see you off, maybe even meet with you," the chauffeur remarked, scoffing a bit in annoyance as he realized who those other cars may have been, "They do realize that they're supposed to keep a respectful distance from you, don't they?"

Junko turned back to face forward, curling up into something of a fetal positon on her seat in the back of the car. The white-haired girl covered the back of her neck with both of her hands as she cried out in distressed panic. It was bad enough that she was being hounded by the paparazzi on her way to the airport, but now a few more than excitable fans were joining the chase as well? This is one of the reasons why Junko didn't like having meet and greets with fans; also, she had no love for the paparazzi, who didn't care for her as a person, only seeing her as a way to make as much of a quick yen as they could.

If it wasn't for the paparazzi and the crazies, then being an idol would have been without flaws for Junko. Still, even with both of those negative factors in place, the white-haired girl had to admit that she still loved the profession, and would not trade it for anything else in the world. Maybe all she needed was to get to the airport and get on her plane so she could begin her tour. Yes, some time away from her hometown, which had seen quite an oversaturation of the aforementioned paparazzi and overeager fans ever since Junko's rise to stardom began, was just what the white-haired girl needed in order to-

*SCREEEEEECH*

*WHABAM*

*CRASH*

*SMASH*

Before she knew it, Junko was sent for a wild ride where her chauffeur had to swerve to avoid a bluish colored van that pulled in out of nowhere. Because of his maneuvering to avoid getting into a crash with that van, the chauffeur ended up colliding into _another_ vehicle, this one a white truck, which hit the side of the car dead-on. The car, with the chauffeur and Junko both yelling out in a panic, were sent tumbling around, flipping over a few times before the car finally landed back on its tires.

However, one of the cars driven by a paparazzi drove up with such speed that it couldn't stop in time, resulting in the paparazzi's car smashing into the side of Junko's car that the truck didn't smash into previously. This impact pushed Junko's car another ten feet or so, up until it slammed into a telephone pole with such force that the car actually _bent around_ said pole, creating a rather horrifying crunching sound of metal and glass in the process.

When the rest of the pursuing cars came upon the scene, they all stopped, shocked by the condition of the car that was transporting the beloved white-haired idol. After some paramedics and police were called to the scene, some emergency rescue workers had to use some gear to pry open what doors of the ruined car that looked like they could be opened. The chauffeur, although knocked out, bleeding from multiple places and had at least half a dozen broken bones, was still alive, and the paramedics rushed him to the nearest hospital.

The chauffeur ended up making a complete recovery, although things were rather touch and go for him over the first twenty-four hours. Sadly, the same could not have been said for Junko, the beloved solo idol that had captivated much of Japan. When the emergency rescue workers were able to get to her after using their gear to pry one of the rear doors of the car open, a quick check made by one of the paramedics confirmed that the worst had happened.

Junko Konno was dead.

(FLASHBACK OVER)

Junko let out a resigned sigh as she finished telling Sakura and Ai what she remembered. "So as you girls can see," the Showa idol zombie girl said, "Paparazzi and I don't exactly see eye to eye on a lot of things. Hence why the idea that one of them spying on us while we were having our bonfire party on the beach has me shivering with revolt." Gently shaking her head, Junko went on, "But I don't think that excuses my behavior during and since the meeting earlier, does it? I'm sorry if my behavior has caused any strife among you and the rest of the girls."

"No, Junko," Sakura said as she gently shook her head, "It's perfectly understandable that you'd be as unsettled as you are over what we learned at the meeting, especially given what you just shared with me and Ai just now." Giving Junko a concerned look, Sakura asked, "Are you going to be okay, though? We still need you for 'Saga Stories', you know."

"And you were an idol before I got into the business myself," Ai pointed out top her Showa counterpart, "That in a way sort of makes you my senpai. That being said, I'd really appreciate it if you stuck around to help and guide me."

Junko considered both Sakura and Ai for a few moments before she decided to give a response. "…Since we're being actresses rather than idols now, I don't see how our respective experience can be of much use to either of us, or any of the rest of the girls for that matter," Junko said to her Heisei counterpart. Giving a small but appreciative smile, Junko continued, "But it is a rather nice feeling to have knowing that I'm wanted, that there are people who care for me beyond the idol persona that I used to put on. And as for you Sakura, I'm still interested in giving the whole actress thing a spin. So yes, girls." Looking at both Sakura and Ai equally, Junko remarked, "I'm not seeing why I'd go anywhere anytime soon. I don't think I can anyway, given that I, as well as the rest of us, are all zombies."

Both Sakura and Ai let out sighs of relief, thankful that they were able to reach through to Junko to some extent. Ai looked like she was about to say something to Junko, but before she could get even one word out, Kotaro suddenly burst into the dance studio room. "I hope that you ladies were able to patch everything up," Kotaro declared suddenly, "Because Franchouchou is about to head out to a meet and greet event!"

"A meet and greet event?" Sakura repeated in a mildly curious tone.

"You girls, as well as the rest of Franchouchou, will be hosting a panel where you will go over a few pre-approved details concerning 'Saga Stories'," Kotaro explained, "You girls will also be answering some questions that the audience attending the panel will ask, although if there's any questions that I don't want you girls answering, I will shoot them down before any of you have to worry about them."

Sakura and Ai both lit up a bit, excited by the prospect of getting to host such an event where they will get to talk to some of their fans. Clapping her hands together, Sakura said, "Wow, are we really getting to do a meet and greet panel, Kotaro-san? Oh, getting to meet with fans was one of the many things that I was looking forward to when I started working towards my dreams of becoming an act-"

"You cannot be serious," Junko said to Kotaro, unintentionally cutting Sakura off midsentence, "Are you seriously expecting us to get out there and have to potentially deal with the paparazzi, not to mention various overeager people? And so soon after that magazine published their latest issue that had a lot on me, Ai, Lily and Ayumu?"

Holding up a hand to cut off any further argument from the Showa idol zombie girl, Kotaro explained, "Like I said, if there are any questions that I don't want any of you girls answering, I'll shoot them down before you girls have to worry about them." Crossing his arms over his chest, the eccentric man continued, "Like I'm trying to say, I won't intentionally drop the ball if I can help it. And I am willing to accommodate you girls to an extent in order to make things as comfortable for you as possible." Gesturing to Junko and the others, Kotaro said, "Well anyway, you girls better cast monster glamour and get ready to ship out while I go track down Tae so I can use my makeup skills to make her appear human." Kotaro then turned around and, before any of the zombie girls in the room could stop him, took his leave.

"Well girls," Sakura said as she cast monster glamour to make herself appear perfectly human, "We ought to get ready for the meet and greet panel that we're going to."

"I still can't believe that I have to potentially get close to the crowds," Junko remarked, a hint of shuddering revoltion in her tone, "I mean, as an idol, I was supposed to be an ideal, a person that everyone had to continuously believe was perfect. Wouldn't getting close to the crowds, only to let them see that I'm not as perfect as they think, shatter that image?"

Ai put her hand on Junko's right shoulder, making the Showa idol zombie girl turn to face her Heisei counterpart. "Junko," Ai began, "You keep forgetting that we're actresses now, not idols. Idols and actresses both work differently, especially when compared to their counterparts from back when you were still alive." Junko let out a resigned sigh as she acknowledged the point that her kohai had just made.

"Apologies," Junko said, "I'm still getting used to everything that's been going on ever since all of us had awoken as zombies, everything that's changed ever since I died. It's still giving me a bit of trouble here and there."

"It's something that all of us are still getting used to a little bit, Junko," Sakura remarked in an understanding tone, "We just need to roll with the punches where and when they happen." Junko nodded once in agreement with the long-haired zombie girl and, together with Ai, followed Sakura out of the dance studio room to go get ready for the upcoming meet and greet panel.

* * *

The panel saw the ten zombie girls, all of them using monster glamour (or Kotaro's makeup skills in Tae's case) to look human, sitting side by side at a table on a stage in a convention room at a relatively high end hotel in the Saga prefecture. The room in front of the stage was filled up with folding chairs, but with how many people had shown up to the meet and greet, it was clear that the vast number of folding chairs wasn't enough, as a good number of people had to stand.

"Welcome, one and all," Kotaro said as he walked onto the stage and stood in front of the girls that were sitting, "My name is Kotaro Tatsumi, and I'm the manager for the girls of the actress troop Franchouchou, the stars of the latest hit TV series 'Saga Stories'. This is our first meet and greet panel where the girls will give a few details on their work on the show, as well as answer a couple of questions that some of you may have. Please keep in mind that you have to be patient, and rest assured that your questions _will_ be answered unless I have to give one of them a 'no comment' response."

Right away, a sea of hands shot up into the air, and after shifting through the sea of cries to have their questions answered, Kotaro picked one a hand, this one belonging to an older woman who looked to be in her very early sixties; this woman had untamed brownish hair in a long spiky style, red-colored upside-down triangle shapes on the sides of her face (one on each cheek) that seemed to resemble fangs, and lipstick that was in a shade of purple. The woman wore a baggy men's t-shirt with a beer logo on it over a long-sleeved dark cream-colored shirt, a pair of dark-colored pants, a pair of bluish open-toes sandals, and white wrapping cloth over her shins and around her right thigh. She was also accompanied by a large dog that wore an eyepatch and was missing an ear.

"Ah yes, I have a question for numbers two and eight," the older woman began, "What were your thoughts on how your group worked with the Drive-In Tori franchise? You both were in that dinner scene where you brought number one's character some take out from the place, and your whole group acted in that commercial."

Kotaro gave Saki and Sigrid a nod that told them that this question was okay. Holding up a hand to let everyone know she was taking the initiative, Saki said, "I was actually rather happy that I got to work with Drive-In Tori. It's been a personal favorite of mine since before I got into my work as an actress. True story, number five never even heard of Drive-In Tori until the day we started work on the commercial that we shot." There were a few good-natured laughs that came from the audience, and Yugiri even smiled a bit, understanding where it was coming from.

After Sigrid provided a comment on how she was happy that Moonberry Cola was one of the sodas on the drinks menu at Drive-In Tori, Kotaro said to the audience, "Alright, who's next?" The sea of hands went back up, and Kotaro ended up picking the hand of a man who looked to be in his very early thirties; this man had long black hair that looked a bit unkempt, he had a bit of five-o-clock shadow going, and he wore a long-sleeved black shirt, a pair of matching pants, similarly colored boots, a belt that looked like it had a few pouches on it, and some manner of white scarf-like accessory around his neck and shoulders.

"Yes, I have a question for numbers zero and one," the man began, "One of the boys in the homeroom class that I teach over at U.A. attended your group's performance over at Saga Castle, and during the performance number zero's head popped off and still functioned while her body ran around. According to what my student told me, number one claimed that this is because number zero has a quirk that lets her separate her body parts and continue to function without issue. Can you give more details about number zero's body part separation quirk, or at the very least can you give us the name of number zero's quirk?"

"Umm," Sakura said in a very mildly panicked tone as she began to think quickly because Kotaro just _had_ to approve of the man's question for some odd reason, "Number zero's quirk is call…Body Drone! It lets her separate her body parts which act independently until they reattach, sort of like how a drone can act unless given instructions." As the long-haired zombie girl had to pull all of what she was telling the man right out of her ass as she lied through her teeth, Tae just sat at the far left end of the table (if you're in the audience and facing the stage), mindlessly moaning as she had no idea what was going on.

After the man asked his question, Kotaro asked the audience if they have anymore questions for the girls. At this, the sea of hands once again shot up, only to settle down when Kotaro picked one of the hands that he saw shoot up. However, this hand ended up belonging to Mr. Sagazine, the man behind Sagazine Editorial Department. After Mr. Sagazine had introduced himself, some of the zombie girls, Junko in particular, knew right away why they suddenly felt a sudden chill go up their spines.

"There have been a good number of people that have noticed how numbers three and four respectively resemble the late idols Ai Mizuno and Junko Konno," Mr. Sagazine began, "Similarly, a lot of people have also noticed how numbers six and seven respectively resemble the late actresses Lily Hoshikawa and Ayumu Akarui." With a hint of seriousness in his face, Mr. Sagazine said, "Would you care to comment? The people, especially readers of Sagazine Today, want to know."

Before any of the zombie girls could respond, Kotaro stepped forward, clearly looking like he was going to shoot this question down. "Questions like that and others of a similar nature make the girls of Franchouchou feel very uncomfortable," Kotaro replied, sounding as business-like as possible, "I'm afraid that we cannot comment on that, likewise we have to ask that any questions similar to that are not asked from this point moving forward."

Mr. Sagazine, with a mildly annoyed looking scowl on his face, sat back down in his folding chair, arms crossed over his chest. Sakura and the other girls, specifically Lily, Ayumu, Ai and (especially) Junko, were glad that Kotaro had shot down the question that Mr. Sagazine asked. The fact that there was someone out there who was able to connect just enough of the right dots to begin suspecting that the girls might just be more than actresses who just so happen to look a lot like late famous people was enough to set some worry into their unbeating hearts. But with an eccentric man like Kotaro keeping an eye and ear out for things like this, Sakura and the others felt that they had nothing to concern themselves with.

The rest of the meet and greet panel passed by without any further incident, something that brought no small measure of relief to the zombie girls. By the time the audience began to filter out of the convention room at the hotel, the girls were all more than ready to go back home to the abandoned mansion. Junko, when she passed by Kotaro who was gathering up a few things that had to be packed back into the van, gave him a single nod that conveyed her thanks to him for his actions in keeping questions that she and the other girls didn't want to answer out of the meet and greet panel.

For his part, Kotaro merely returned the gesture with a nod that acknowledged the Showa idol zombie girl's feelings on the matter.

* * *

The following morning, the zombie girls were all sitting around the kitchen, having breakfast. None of them had changed into regular wear yet, so all of them were still in what they had for sleepwear. Particularly, Hikari's sleep outfit consisted of a baggy t-shirt that had the logo of a video game series on it coupled with a pair of dark rose-colored sweatpants, Ayumu surprisingly had the same sleep outfit as Lily save that Ayumu's is sized to fit a girl her age and it uses lavander compared to the greens that Lily's uses, and Sigrid had a sleep outfit very similar to Saki's, only any designs on Saki's are replaced with Nordic themed patterns on Sigrid's.

The zombie girls were all seated around the table counter, watching the TV that was set up in the kitchen to see what the morning news was going on about. "…And with the tournament between students from Vulcan High and U.A., virtually all of Japan will be tuning in to see one-on-one matches between students from two of Japan's finest hero high schools," the news anchor said as the news showed a picture of two logos for different Japanese high schools, "This is sure to be an exciting day for everyone that watches, both live and at home."

As the news then went on to cover something concerning the weather for the next few days, Sakura turned to face her fellow zombie girls. "Yesterday sure was exciting when we had to do that meet and greet panel, huh girls?" Sakura began in a conversational tone, "A lot of the questions that the people who came asked really took me by surprise, you know." Wearing a look of mild confusion, the long-haired zombie girl commented in a bemused tone, "I still don't know why Kotaro-san had me answer that one guy's question about Tae. I literally had to make up what I was saying on the fly."

"What has me concerned is that Kotaro even allowed that man from that Sagazine business to come into the meet and greet in the first place," Junko remarked. Shuddering a bit, the Showa idol zombie girl continued, "I can't believe that someone was able to make connections like that and begin to ask specific questions about the ten of us."

Sakura let out a mildly resigned sigh. "…Yes, I suppose that's one of the risks that comes with us having been raised from the dead as zombies," Sakura remarked as she addressed Junko, "There might very well be a few people who could recognize us. This goes doubly so for those of us who were famous before they died, such as you, Ai, Lily and Ayumu." With another sigh, Sakura continued, "In fact, there's a good chance that all of us, aside from Yugiri who died over a century ago, may be recognized by some people out there."

"Well you said it yourself, Egghead," Saki remarked in a casual tone, "We'll just roll with the punches where and when they occur."

Sakura turned slightly to face the delinquent zombie girl, smiling a bit out of appreciation. "…Thanks, Saki," the long-haired zombie girl remarked, "You're absolutely right." Turning her attention to the others, Sakura said, "We need to be ready for what may come our way and when. We aren't just going to roll over under surprises like this, are we?" The chorus of 'Nos' from the rest of the zombie girls reaffirmed to Sakura that, no matter what may come, they were going to stand together and face it as a team. Who cares if some local monthly magazine is trying to dig into the girls' respective pasts out of some manner of suspicion?

Bring it on.

END, SAGA STORIES CHAPTER SIX

Author's notes:

So this has been the Junko-centric chapter that covers her concerns/worries/feelings on what she and the other zombie girls are going through. I'm not quite so sure if I gave Junko sufficient development in this chapter alone, but she like the rest of the girls as a whole is a work in progress. I also put a bit more 'oomph' into the subplot that sees at least one group starting to see a few coincidences between the girls of Franchouchou and various girls who died at various points in the past, with an especial effort placed on the ones that were famous before they died. This will be explored on and off over the next few chapters at the very least, eventually leading up to everything coming to a head.

As a side note, this chapter helps to further establish the setting of this story, and how it may be closer to the events of other locals than many would assume. That is also something that will be explored on and off over the course of chapters to come, but that will be something discussed at a later time. Anyway, the next chapter won't have any specific counterpart in the series proper, as it'll be focusing on another one of the new zombie girls and her past dealings. Again, it's just one of the wonders that comes with an AU story.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Zombie Land Saga, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Saga Stories: A tale of Zombie Land Saga

Chapter seven: The saga of Sigrid in Saga

(FLASHBACK)

(DATE: JULY 31ST, 1997)

Sigrid Aesirson stood a few feet away from the railing that was set up along the curve that overlooked a section of wooded area in the Saga prefecture. The half-foreign delinquent girl had over her back a case that looked made to hold a few sporting instruments such as golf clubs, although the case was only big enough to store one item. In this case, a single metal baseball bat was stored in that sporting equipment case worn over Sigrid's back.

Sigrid looked over at the landscape that unfurled before her, the late July winds blowing gently against her form as she maintained her stoic presence. Her face-framing bangs swayed in the breeze every so often before settling back down. As Sigrid continued her viewing of the lands before her, a young adult Nagi came walking up to her from a few feet away. The blonde girl had a look of mild amusement on her face as she approached the leader of Einherjar.

"You have a lot on your mind, boss," Nagi spoke aloud when she got within three feet of the half-foreign delinquent girl. Having heard the voice of a trusted ally speak up, Sigrid turned to face her friend that approached her.

"Greetings and well met to you too, Nagi," Sigrid remarked, "I take it that there is some sort of matter that you wish to speak to me about?"

Gently shaking her head, Nagi replied, "I only wanted to give you props on that fight that you won last night against that dumb bimbo from Korosuke." Shooting her boss an amused grin, the blonde girl went on, "That was one hell of a show that you put on."

Sigrid returned an amused smile of her own. "…We of Einherjar are warriors, Nagi," the half-foreign delinquent girl remarked, "Oathbrothers and oathsisters sworn under the same banner to win honor and glory in the name of the gods of Valhalla. It is not in the definition of warrior's honor to turn down someone who challenges you to face them in the field of battle, regardless of either their odds of beating you or your odds of beating them." Turning back around to look back over the landscape that unfurled before her, Sigrid remarked with a hint of mild disappointment in her tone, "Although I will admit that I wish my opponent from last night's battle had done her fair share of making our contest a glorious melee."

"Hey, it's her fault for challenging someone that was _way_ out of her league," Nagi commented when she turned to regard Sigrid, understanding amusement in the blonde girl's tone, "It was like she was a level five character, and you're at least level fifty."

"Hmm," hummed the boss of Einherjar, "Perhaps. But even so." Sigrid never turned away from looking out over the landscape that she and Nagi were looking out over, the beautiful scenery, the quiet calmness of the woods, the gentle breeze going over that area. Although Sigrid drew only half of her heritage from Japan, she will still admit that the land of the rising sun was very much a beautiful land.

A beautiful land that was all the more reason why Sigrid wanted to take it over.

The half-foreign delinquent girl reached over her right shoulder, grasped the handle of the metal baseball bat that rested within, took the bat out as a warrior would take a sword out from a scabbard over his back, then pointed over the landscape before her and Nagi with the bat. There were etchings on the side of the bat that very much resembled the inscriptions on the sides of an Ulfberht sword, the blades that were favored by the Vikings of old.

"These lands are still in conflict, Nagi," Sigrid began, a hint of seriousness in her tone, "Our tribe is just one of many that calls these lands home. We and the others wage war against one another on an almost daily basis."

"Hence why you want to lead Einherjar in beating down every other gang out there," Nagi said, "To make us the top gang in Japan."

Sigrid nodded once in the affirmative before she returned her bat to the sports equipment case that she wore over her back. "A strong warrior is always ready to do battle," the half-foreign delinquent girl remarked, "But it's a sign that a warrior is both strong _and wise_ if they do not actively seek battle out. My goal goes beyond simply bringing Einherjar to the top, putting it above all other tribes. In order to truly accomplish such a lofty goal, it is necessary to unite all of the tribes here under a single common goal, a single banner."

"Yours," Nagi said more than guessed, a hint of amusement in her tone. Sigrid said nothing, but gave a single affirmative nod. "It makes a lot of sense," the blonde girl went on, "If every member of every delinquent gang is all on the same team, then it would be a lot easier for us to take over the country." Turning to look more directly at her boss, Nagi continued, "But it won't be an easy task, especially considering you're most likely not the only delinquent in Japan that has visions of taking everything over."

"If there is anyone who stands in my way," Sigrid replied, "Stands in the way of my end goal of uniting all under a single banner so as to bring these lands into an era of peace that is blessed by the gods of Valhalla, then I will face them." Sigrid rolled her shoulders a bit, causing the sporting equipment case worn over her back to shift around a bit. "With Ulfberht in hand, I will face any and all challengers that may come my way," the half-foreign delinquent girl swore, "And nothing short of my falling in battle will save them from being made to yield."

Nagi let out an amused hum that was clearly part chuckle. Patting her boss on the back, the blonde girl said, "I hope that you don't meet your warrior's reward anytime soon, Sigrid. You are still needed here to bring about the era of peace between all delinquent gangs, after all."

Sigrid turned to face her friend, an amused smirk on her face. "It is reassuring to know that there are those here on Midgard that would mourn me, that don't wish to see my finish," Sigrid said, "A telltale sign of a true oathsister." Sigrid turned to more directly face Nagi, placing her right hand on Nagi's left shoulder. "Come, Nagi," Sigrid remarked, a hint of appreciative amusement in her tone, "I've got a warrior's thirst that needs quenching, and it wouldn't do for me to drink Moonberry Cola alone."

"Heh, are you serious, Sigrid?" Nagi replied, her tone sounding with mock offence, "Me, turn down drinking with you? You ought to know me better than that." Sigrid and Nagi, both of them laughing in good nature together, took their leave from the curve that overlook the landscape.

(FLASHBACK OVER)

Sigrid, as she stood on an upper floor patio that was part of the abandoned mansion in Saga, looked out into the backyard of the abandoned mansion. The half-foreign zombie girl was lost in thought ever since she woke up that morning, having awoken from a dream of her past life, back before she had met her glorious end in battle, back before she had awakened as a zombie in the very mansion where she and her fellow undead girls live ever since they were raised to act in that show being produced by Kotaro and his men.

As she looked out over the abandoned mansion's backyard, Sigrid unconsciously reached over her right shoulder, as if to draw her cherished metal baseball bat, Ulfberht, out so that she could point out over the landscape before her. However, her undead hand grasped at nothing but empty air, serving as a reminder to her that the glories in the past are back there, in the past. Sigrid lowered her right arm back to her side, a look of mild somberness on her face as she looked on out over the abandoned mansion's backyard.

"_What is the All_-_father_'_s true reason for allowing my return to Midgard as a draugr_?" Sigrid thought as she continued her vigil stance, wondering just what her purpose was now that she was back in the land of the living as a living dead. As the half-foreign zombie girl let out a resigned sigh, her attention was piqued when she heard Sakura call out to her. Turning to her left, Sigrid saw that she was being approached by Sakura, who was accompanied by Lily and Ayumu.

"There you are, Sigrid," the long-haired zombie girl greeted, "The girls here and I were looking all over for you."

"You left the futon room right after getting dressed," Lily pointed out, "And nobody's seen you up until now." Looking up at Sigrid, the child actress zombie girl asked, "Are you feeling okay?"

Sigrid sighed, the air pushing out through her nostrils. She turned back around to go back to looking over the backyard, her mildly somber expression unchanging. "Apologies for having caused you and the other girls undue worry, little one," Sigrid replied, "I was just feeling a bit troubled is all."

"Would you like to talk about it?" Sakura asked.

Gently shaking her head a bit, Sigrid replied, "It was only a dream that I had. A memory of my past returning to visit me in the realm of sleep." Sigrid then turned to walk away from Sakura and the others, saying, "I need to be by myself for a while, if you don't mind." Before any of the girls there could stop her, the half-foreign zombie girl had left.

There on the second floor patio by themselves, Sakura, Lily and Ayumu turned to look at each other with concerned looks on their respective faces. "You girls think that Sigrid is going to be okay?" Lily asked, "I'm really worried about her."

"Maybe Mr. Kotaro can give us a few points on Sigrid," Ayumu suggested, getting both Sakura and Lily to turn to face her, "I mean, he helped you girls out before when you wanted to learn something about some of the other girls, myself included." With a shrug, the teen actress zombie girl continued, "Maybe Mr. Kotaro can fill in a couple of blanks for us so we can learn exactly what is up with Sigrid."

"That's a good idea, Ayumu," Sakura remarked, nodding once in agreement, "Kotaro-san knows a lot about all of us, hence why he chose the ten of us specifically for the 'Saga Stories' project." Tapping her fist into her hand, the long-haired zombie girl said, "Lily, Ayumu, come with me. We have a manager to track down." The two actress zombie girls both nodded in agreement, with Lily even giving a little cheer. Sakura then led her fellow undead back into the abandoned mansion to go about looking for Kotaro.

* * *

When Sakura, Lily and Ayumu found Kotaro, the eccentric man was talking with two of the men that was in cahoots with him. Kotaro sounded like his temper was a bit high at the moment; when Sakura and the others got close enough, it was Sakura who picked up enough to figure out that Kotaro was mad about something related to how Sagazine Editorial Department, which is the company behind the local monthly magazine Sagazine Today, was still trying to dig into the respective pasts of the girls of Franchouchou.

Sakura, Lily and (especially) Ayumu were a bit hesitant to approach Kotaro while his temper was as high as it seemed at the moment. So it was to their relief that Kotaro, when he turned to face them when they got his attention, calmed down a lot. "Hello, ladies," Kotaro greeted in a casual tone, "Can I assume that you three have sought me out because you're concerned with how one of your fellow zombies is acting?"

"We're concerned about Sigrid, yes," Sakura began to explain, "She's been keeping to herself ever since she woke up this morning, and when Lily, Ayumu and I tried talking to her, she had this sort of somber, resigned look about her." With a bit of an unsure look on her face, Sakura continued, "She said that she had a dream about her past, back when she was still alive. Nothing bad happened to Sigrid, did it?"

Scoffing a bit, Kotaro said, "Well doi, something bad _did _happen to Sigrid in the past. She died. That sounds like it would easily qualify as 'something bad happening to Sigrid'." Letting out a huff, Kotaro added, "…But that's not the exact answer that you three are looking for, is it? It's rather clear that Sigrid, given her beliefs, is having a harder time than most of you girls getting used to the fact that you all have returned from the grave as zombies." Kotaro looked up at the ceiling, letting out another sigh.

"…I don't suppose you girls remember how Sigrid said she met her end, do you?" Kotaro began, a hint of resigned wonder in his tone, "Well, it's a good thing for you zombies that I, in my vast wisdom, had learned about how Sigrid died." Letting out a bit of a chuckle, Kotaro said, "Let me tell you girls, the way that Sigrid had died was probably one of the best deaths that she could have possibly asked her gods for…"

(FLASHBACK)

(DATE: AUGUST 30TH, 1997)

Sigrid's body laid on the ground, her right hand still gripped on the handle of Ulfberht. The half-foreign delinquent girl had just died, being killed as a result of having been challenged and sub-sequentially attacked by a group of one-_hundred_ delinquents from a combined five rival gangs that would not stand for Einherjar trying to claim the top spot in Japan.

The alliance of all of those gang members was led by the very girl from Korosuke who had previously lost a one-on-one fight to Sigrid; the girl sought to avenge her humiliation but, having received a first-hand account on Sigrid's prowess as a warrior, felt that safety in numbers was the key to finally defeating the half-foreign leader of Einherjar. Sigrid ended up being killed in that fight, just as the Korosuke girl thought would happen if Sigrid didn't run. After all, Sigrid was facing off against one-hundred opponents on her own, all of them having been brought together by the Korosuke girl just to make sure Sigrid would be punished.

…However, Sigrid was not one to take such a punishment laying down. Since she didn't run, it's obvious that the half-foreign delinquent girl fought back. The one-hundred gang members were all surprised that one lone girl wasn't running from the overwhelming force that they had come to her as. What further surprised the thirteen of them that Sigrid had significantly injured (the Korosuke girl being among this thirteen) was the fact that the other eighty-seven of them had all been killed, felled by Sigrid's hand.

Even after Sigrid had died from her wounds and fell over onto the ground, the remaining thirteen delinquents did not dare approach her body. What further worried the remaining gang members was that a few of the boys and girls from Einherjar came upon the scene; although the thirteen outnumbered the five that showed up, the five were fresh and rearing to go whereas the thirteen were all hurting and winded. As such, the thirteen turned tail and ran, not wanting to risk getting anymore hurt than they already were.

Among the five from Einherjar that showed up to the scene of Sigrid's final battle was Nagi, her closest friend and second-in-command. The blonde girl, her somber expression regarding the body of her fallen friend, allowed her tears to flow steadily in a soundless cry. Nagi walked over to her friend's body, retrieved Ulfberht's case and Ulfberht itself from Sigrid. Nagi threw the case on over her back before putting the cherished bat inside. The other Einherjar members took a bit of time looting what valuables they could from those who their late boss had vanquished before they followed Nagi away, uncaring of whatever else may end up occurring that night, regardless of what said event(s) may be (end up being).

(FLASHBACK OVER)

"…The news over the next few days mentioned the massive brawl between all of those delinquent gangs every so often," Kotaro said to Sakura, Lily and Ayumu as he wrapped up the story, "There are still stories being told to this day about that fight, a story used by many a gang when trying to inspire potential new recruits into joining the rank and file."

Sakura, Lily and Ayumu all looked at Kotaro with wide-eyed looks of surprise. "You mean to tell me and the girls here that Sigrid killed eighty-seven people before she herself had died?!" Sakura nearly exclaimed, "Holy cow! That doesn't even sound possible, a person acting on their own taking on so many people like that."

Gently shaking his head, Kotaro replied, "You and the other girls here will be amazed by how many particularly powerful individuals are out there, Sakura. Believe it or not, Sigrid, even as a zombie, is among the more _normal_ of said individuals. Hell, there are some people that, on their own, can take on entire _battalions_ of people that vastly outnumber the one-hundred delinquent army that Sigrid fought and not only still win, but do so rather handily." Gently shaking his head, Kotaro remarked, "If you girls think that you all being raised as zombies is plenty crazy on its own, then the world at large will give you all a rather rude awakening."

"That…" Lily said, "…That is a bit disconcerting to know." Briskly shaking her head, the child actress zombie girl continued, "But we can go over stuff like that later. Right now, Sakura, Big Sis and I need to know what we can do to help Sigrid out of the funk that she woke up in. We're still really worried about her, and we want her to cheer up as soon as possible."

"I don't suppose that you might have any idea on where any of Sigrid's former gang members may be, do you?" Ayumu asked the eccentric man. Seeing the questioning look on Kotaro's face, the teen actress zombie girl explained, "Sakura, Lily and I can say that we're the daughters of some of the people who survived the fight that killed Sigrid, and that we just want to know if the stories that our parents have told us ever since we were little are true."

Kotaro crossed his arms over his chest, a look of contemplation on his face as he breathed out through his nose. "…I _do_ happen to know the address of Nagi, the girl who took over Einherjar after Sigrid was killed." Looking at the three zombie girls, Kotaro said, "I'm still a bit hesitant to let you girls out, in light of what those bastards who produce Sagazine Today did, but if you girls wear decent enough disguises, you should be able to go about without being bothered."

"If it will help, then we'll go for it," Sakura replied with an appreciative nod, a gesture that Lily and Ayumu both did as well. Seeing the three zombie girls nod in appreciation to him made the eccentric man crack an amused smile.

Rubbing his hands together, Kotaro said with a hint of devilishly amused excitement in his tone, "Oh, this is great for me as well. I've been wanting to make use of some of the other makeup and costume supplies that I have. You girls just have to use monster glamour before I dress the three of you up before I send you out to Nagi's." Although Sakura, Lily and Ayumu all had a bit of an unsettling feeling when they saw Kotaro rub his hands together, they were still nonetheless keen on doing that they could to learn more about Sigrid.

* * *

Later that day, in one of the residential neighborhoods in the Saga prefecture, Sakura, Lily and Ayumu, all of them wearing disguises, all stood in front of a lovely enough looking two story house. Of course, one would had to have been there when Kotaro dressed them up in disguises to know that it really _was_ Sakura, Lily and Ayumu. As a testament to his grandmastery in the art of makeup and costumes, Kotaro made the three girls completely unrecognizable.

The 'biggest' example of this is Sakura herself. The long-haired zombie girl was put into a fat suit that made her look like she weighed approximately four-hundred pounds. Furthermore, she was wearing a pair of thick-looking glasses that were taped together at the bridge piece, and a few dabs on the disguise's plump cheeks suggested something of an acne problem. Over her fat suit Sakura wore a long-sleeved blue and purple-stripped long-sleeved shirt under a large pair of overalls, a pair of sneakers, and Sakura was also carrying a few books in her arms, an extra touch that Kotaro added. A lightly-colored sun hat, under which a lot of Sakura's long hair was hidden, completed the outfit.

Next was Ayumu, who was gussied up to look like as much of a stereotypical Goth girl as the eccentric man could have managed. A black sleeveless buttoned blouse, coupled with an equally black somewhat frilly skirt that reached the teen actress zombie girl's knees, plus a pair of black boots that reached halfway up her shins. There was also the black lipstick Ayumu wore, her fingernails were painted black, and she wore black eye shadow. A few accessories such as a pair of black simple stud earrings and some bracelets on only her right wrist completed the disguise.

Lily's disguise was a lot less stand out compared to what Sakura and Ayumu both wore; Lily was simply put into a girl's school uniform from either an elementary or a middle school. The girl's school uniform consisted of a white long-sleeved sailor top with appropriate collar, a red tie worn under the collar and around the neck, a dark blue school uniform skirt that reached Lily's knees, a pair of baggy socks and a pair of brown loafers. Lily's mass of light blue hair was combed and brushed straight before a yellow hat was placed on top of her head, also Lily was given a pair of glasses that looked nowhere near as nerdy as what Sakura was given. Overall, the child actress zombie girl felt that her disguise was very appropriate. It was clear by the wide variety of disguises that the three zombie girls were wearing that Kotaro was having a lot of fun as he dressed them up.

"Ehh," Ayumu moaned in embarrassment as she looked herself over while she and the others stood outside of Nagi's front door, "Why did Mr. Kotaro dress me up as one of those dark girls that like using magic?"

"This is important to keep others from recognizing who we are, Ayumu," Sakura reminded the teen actress zombie girl, "Anyway, we should knock and see if Sigrid's old friend is home." Sakura reached forward and gave the front door a few good knocks. After a couple of seconds of waiting, the door was opened, revealing the now adult Nagi. The blonde woman wore an outfit that consisted of a pastel light blue long-sleeved blouse, a long skirt that was regular light blue, and a pair of indoor slippers.

The blonde woman looked a bit surprised to see such a select mix of girls together, here at her front door; one would not normally expect to see a young schoolgirl, a really fat nerd and a Goth all together in the same group. "Is there something that I can help you girls with?" Nagi asked, trying to be as polite to her surprise visitors as possible, "Or are one of you here looking for Sigurd? He's currently out taking his dog Freyja for a walk at the moment, but the three of you can wait here for him to come back if you'd like. He should be back before too much longer."

"Actually, my older sisters here and I were hoping that you could answer some questions for us, ma'am," Lily began as she looked up at Nagi, "Our mom told us about how she fought this one girl named Sigrid back before any of us were born, and how Sigrid took out a LOT of people before she herself was killed in that fight." At Lily's mention of the late half-foreign girl, Nagi's eyes widened a bit, as if she had just been hit with a blast from her past.

Gesturing to Sakura and Ayumu, Lily said, "My sisters and I don't quite believe what our mom told us about how one girl could do so much, but we heard that you could provide some insight, as our mom told us you were friends with Sigrid." Looking up at the blonde woman, Lily asked, "It's not too much of us to ask you a bit about that Sigrid girl, is it?"

Nagi let out a resigned sigh, a look of somber recollection on her face. "…You'd be surprised by how little people have asked me about my old friend's death over twenty years ago," the blonde woman remarked, "Wanted to get my side of the matter." Nagi stood to the side as she gestured for Sakura, Ayumu and Lily to come inside. The three girls made their way inside, although Sakura did apologize when the butt of the fat suit that she wore accidentally bumped into Nagi as she made her way inside (not that Nagi knew what it really was, mind you).

…

The three girls were seating inside of Nagi's living room, with Sakura and Ayumu together on the sofa and Lily in an armchair next to the sofa on the end that Sakura dominated. Across from the end that Ayumu sat on was an armchair that was at something of an angle, and it was in this seat that the blonde woman sat in. "So miss Nagi," Sakura began, "Our mom told us that you were thick as thieves with this Sigrid girl." Gesturing to Nagi, Sakura asked, "Could you tell us more about her?"

"Heh," Nagi chuckled, "I can't really tell you girls all that much about Sigrid without also telling you about Einherjar, the gang that Sigrid and I used to belong to way back in the day." Looking up at the ceiling in her living room, Nagi began, "Einherjar was a rather notable delinquent gang at the time, mostly due to Sigrid's practices in running it and who she accepted as members." Giving the three girls a mildly amused look, Nagi remarked, "Einherjar was a gang that was well ahead of its time, if you think about it. First off, whereas other gangs at the time were either all girls or all boys, Einherjar was a co-ed gang. We had both boys _and_ girls in our ranks, and that was made a lot of difference; since we weren't exclusive to just one gender, we were one of the largest gangs at the time. There are still some gangs to this day that have yet to match or exceed the sheer numbers Einherjar had at its peak."

Sakura, Lily and Ayumu all looked a bit surprised at that. "Wow," Lily remarked in a mildly amazed tone, "Sigrid sounded like she was really accepting."

Nodding in agreement with the young girl, Nagi replied, "So long as you proved yourself as a 'warrior' to Sigrid, practically nothing else mattered to her. She accepted people of both genders into Einherjar. Sigrid was also lacking in vain beliefs; as an example, there was this one girl who was kicked out of her old gang because she was rather fat and the leader of that gang thought that it made her look hideous. Sigrid, after getting an idea of what the fat girl was like, offered her a new spot in Einherjar."

"Really?" Sakura asked, using the chance that was just provided to look a bit more interested, "Sigrid didn't reject people if they were fat?"

"Sigrid said that since the fat girl clearly had 'a warrior's appetite', then she definitely had to be a warrior," Nagi explained, "It was Sigrid's way of putting things." With a chuckle, Nagi went on, "Sigrid also had no issue with gay and lesbian people either. I remember going along with her, the fat girl that I just mentioned and a boy in our gang named Sigurd when we came across two delinquent girls who were beating up two other girls in their gang because the two girls that were being beaten were outed as lesbians, something that their gang would not stand for."

"I…" Sakura remarked, "…Take it that you, Sigrid, and the others put a stop to the assault?"

Nodding a few times in the affirmative, the blonde woman explained, "Those girls that were being beaten out of their gang were really thankful when me, Sigrid and the others rescued them. Sigrid also saw them fight back against their former allies, so she knew right away that the two lesbian girls were both really good in a fight. Sigrid had us take the girls back to our hangout, we treated their injuries, and Sigrid offered them a home in Einherjar as she shared Moonberry Cola with them."

"Sounds like there wasn't much that Sigrid objected to," Ayumu remarked, sounding amazed.

"Like I said," Nagi replied, "Once she acknowledged you as a warrior, Sigrid couldn't care less about anything that some others would consider as deal-breakers." Letting out a sigh, Nagi went on, "In fact, this brings me to another point in my story about how Sigrid was like, a part about our old friend Sigurd."

Raising a hand, Lily said, "Wait, I thought that you said your son's name was Sigurd."

Nagi nodded twice in the affirmative. "It is," Nagi replied, "I actually named Sigurd after me and Sigrid's friend from our old gang."

"Is there something about Sigurd that makes him so special?" Lily asked.

With a mildly amused smile, the blonde woman said, "Believe it or not, Sigurd was not born as Sigurd. Rather, he was born as Miyabi Kamora."

Ayumu, with a mildly confused look on her face, said, "Umm, that sounds like a girl's name."

"That because my old friend Sigurd was born as a girl," Nagi began to explain, drawing looks of surprise out of the three girls, Lily especially. Nodding a few times in confirmation, Nagi went on, "Sigurd was someone that was referred to as a female-to-male transgender. There is still a bit of talk going on about the matter to this day, but it was a bit worse back then. Even so, Sigrid not only accepted Sigurd either way, she was even the one who gave him the name Sigurd."

"Sigrid was the one who named him?" Sakura asked.

Nodding once, Nagi said, "Sigurd had already been a member of Einherjar for a while by the time he came out. The only objection that Sigrid had was that Sigurd was still using his female name at the time, given that he had yet to come up with a name to reflect his identity as a male." Gesturing to the girls, Nagi said, "Sigrid said that since Sigurd had failed to select his new name, the duty of selecting it fell to her. So she had him kneel before her and, using Ulfberht, she had named him Sigurd, in a ceremony sort of like when a monarch dubs someone as a knight." The three zombie girls looked like they were amazed with what they were hearing about their fellow undead from when she was still alive.

"Wow…" Lily said in a somewhat subdued tone, sounding as if she was touched emotionally, "…Sigrid sounds more and more awesome the more I hear about her…"

"Hang on," Sakura said as she looked to Nagi, "Ulfberht? What is that?"

The blonde woman, with a look of amusement on her face, got up from her chair and told the girls to wait. Nagi went upstairs for a minute, and when she came back down she was carrying a sporting equipment carrier, the handle of a metal baseball bat sticking out from the open hole in the top. Walking over to stand in front of the girls, Nagi took the metal baseball bat out of the sports equipment carrier and showed it to them, showing engravings on the side of the bat that resembled Nordic letters.

"…This," Nagi said as she gestured to the bat, "Is Ulfberht, Sigrid's old baseball bat. It was in Sigrid's hands since before she started up Einherjar, and it never left her possession until the night she was killed." With a look of somberness on her face, Nagi went on, "When me and a few others in the gang found Sigrid's body among the many bodies of those she killed in that terrible fight over two decades ago, it was me who recovered Ulfberht and the case that Sigrid stored it in. I…"

Gently shaking her head as she stopped short, the blonde woman went on when she found the words again, "…I did not want something so significant to Sigrid to fall into the hands of one of Einherjar's rivals. So I took it home with me and, well…" Putting Ulfberht back into its case, Nagi said, "…It's been in my possession ever since."

Setting the case off to the side so that it was leaning against the side of the chair she sat in, Nagi remarked, "Einherjar ended up falling apart a year or so after Sigrid was killed. A few other members, such as Sigurd and one of the two lesbian girls, died not long after, respectively due to a traffic accident and being gunned down at random in a convenience store robbery. That's the extent of what I know about my old gang members. I have no idea what happened to any of the rest of them."

Sakura, Lily and Ayumu were all shocked by the extent of what they had just learned about the past of the half-foreign zombie girl. To think that Sigrid had been so accepting, had united so many, had died in so epic a finish… Sakura felt that Sigrid was one of the very heroes from a Nordic epic poem made flesh (well, that flesh is undead, but you get the point). Sakura also felt a bit sad that the very people that Sigrid had gathered together under the banner of Einherjar ended up drifting apart when Sigrid had met her glorious end in battle. But at the same time, the long-haired zombie girl felt happy that at least one person whose life was impacted by Sigrid had not only moved on in life, but was able to do pretty well, if Nagi's home and the fact that the blonde woman was a mother was any indication.

"Hey, miss Nagi," Lily began as she wore a look of sudden inspiration on her face, "I have a quick question." After Nagi had given her the okay to proceed, the child actress zombie girl took out her smartphone (remember that Kotaro supplied all of the zombie girls with one) and asked, "Would it be okay if I took a picture or two of that bat you said you got from your friend? I want to see if me and my sisters' mom will recognize it."

Nagi, a bit amused by Lily's request, allowed Lily to take what photos she needed. Sakura and Ayumu watched as Lily took Ulfberht out of the case it was stored in, laid it on the floor so that the engravings on the side were face up, and took a few pictures. Ayumu had no idea what her child counterpart was up to, but Sakura felt like she had a pretty good idea what Lily had in mind while she was taking those photos. When Lily was done, she returned the bat to its case.

With their business at Nagi's place concluded, the three girls got up and proceeded to take their leave. However, about halfway to the front door, they stopped when the front door opened and a boy that looked to be either late middle or early high school walked in, holding onto the leash of a young adult golden retriever. This boy had long olive-brown hair and wore a long-sleeved shirt under a t-shirt that resembled a Nordic tunic, a pair of pants, and a pair of rather clunky looking sneakers. The boy gave the three girls a mildly confused look.

"Who are you three?" the boy asked as his golden retriever began growling at the three zombie girls in a way that denoted the dog as being suspicious of the girls.

Over where Nagi sat, she called out, "Sigurd, relax. These girls were just here to visit and ask me about my old friend from the gang I used to belong to before I had you." Gesturing to the golden retriever that the boy, revealed to be Nagi's son Sigurd, was walking, Nagi asked, "Also, can you get Freyja to calm down?"

"Freyja, hush girl," Sigurd told his dog as he led her out of the living room.

After Sigurd had taken his dog out of the living room and away from the girls, Nagi said to them, "That was my son Sigurd and his dog Freyja just now. Sorry that she growled at you." With a look of wonder on her face, Nagi remarked, "I wonder why Freyja was so hostile to you three just now, especially considering she's usually very friendly. Hmm, maybe it's because she's able to tell that you three are the daughters of one of the girls that belonged to one of the gangs that used to rival my old gang."

"Yeah, sure, let's go with that," Sakura remarked as she tried to get herself, Lily and Ayumu out of there as quickly as possible. The long-haired zombie girl was worried that the reason that the living dog was so hostile to her and the other two girls was that she could somehow tell that they weren't exactly 'natural'. Fearing that was the case, Sakura wanted to get away before anything bad ended up going down.

Luckily for Sakura, she was able to make up an excuse to Nagi which convinced her that the girls had to leave pronto. Despite the hiccup at the end with Nagi's son's golden retriever, Sakura and the others found their visit to Nagi's place to be very worth their time. They had a better understanding of their half-foreign friend, and Lily was particularly interested in showing Sigrid the photos that she had taken before she, Sakura and Ayumu left.

* * *

Sakura, Lily and Ayumu returned to the abandoned mansion not long after their departure from Nagi's house. When the three girls walked into the mansion through the front door, they were met up by Saki and Sigrid, both of which were in their zombie forms. Both of the living dead delinquent girls had looks of alarm on their faces when three girls who were all living girls for all that they (Saki and Sigrid) knew just walked into the mansion all willy-nilly.

"Umm, we're working on a scene in a Halloween special episode of Saga Stories," Saki said to the disguised girls, "Our makeup artists wanted us to try and work with the zombie dream scene from the series premiere for the Halloween episode."

"Saki, relax," Sakura said in a bemused tone, "It's just me, Lily and Ayumu."

Saki, when she recognized Sakura's voice, went wide-eyed with shocked surprise. "Egghead?!" Saki practically exclaimed, "Is that really you?! Holy shit!" Pointing at Sakura, the delinquent zombie girl said with some laughter in her tone, "How did you get so fucking fat?! I wasn't even aware that undead like us can even gain weight!"

As Saki was making this noise, Kotaro came walking over, having been summoned by the sheer volume of Saki's exclaiming. "Ah, about time that you three girls all got back to the mansion," the eccentric man remarked, "I take it that your little venture went by without trouble?"

Ayumu nodded once in the affirmative before saying, "Yes, Mr. Kotaro. Sakura, Lily and I got a lot out of our trip."

"So wait," Sigrid said as she pointed to the three disguised girls, "You all are simply wearing disguises?" After Sakura, Lily and Ayumu all replied in the affirmative, Sigrid pointed to Sakura and said, "Saki does have a point. Your disguise still doesn't explain what manner of sorcery had taken place to explain your newfound girth."

"It's no sorcery, Sigrid," Kotaro said as he turned to face the half-foreign zombie girl, "It's a mix of a fat suit, some costume makeup and appropriately sized clothing."

Walking over to Sakura, Saki said as she walked around her, "Damn, Shades! I knew that you were pretty damn killer when it came to making us look human before we all mastered monster glamour, but I had no idea you could gussy Egghead here up to look like a total fatass!"

Kotaro, letting out a self-amused hum, replied, "The training that I underwent in order to attain my legendary makeup skills is a pathway to many abilities that some would consider to be…unnatural." The five zombie girls that were there in that area at the time merely looked at the eccentric man with looks of mildly annoyed unamusement.

Throwing her hands up into the air, Sakura said, "Saki, Sigrid, I'll be glad to tell you and the others about what Lily, Ayumu and I had done while we were out once we get out of the getups we're wearing and back into regular clothing."

"I kind of like my outfit, though," Lily remarked as she followed Sakura and Ayumu off to a private room to get out of their disguises.

…

After Sakura, Lily and Ayumu got out of their disguises and back into their respective regular outfits, they gathered with the rest of the zombie girls and told them all about the trip that they had taken. Sigrid was particularly keen on listening in when it became obvious that the three of them had gone on a quest to learn more about her. The half-foreign zombie girl was thrown for an especially big loop when she learned that her old friend from when she (Sigrid) was still alive was, well, still alive and doing well.

It goes without saying that Sigrid had a number of questions for Sakura, Lily and Ayumu, but before she could get even one word out, some of the other zombie girls started shouting out random questions here and there, clamoring over each other as their combined efforts began to overwhelm Sakura, Lily and (especially) Ayumu.

"Sigrid's old friend had a son she named after an old friends of hers and Sigrid's?" Junko asked.

"Did she really kill eighty-seven people before she died?" Ai asked Sakura, shooting a quick sideways glance over at the half-foreign zombie girl before it was noticed.

"It's actually possible to become extremely fat in this day and age simply by putting on a costume and some makeup?" Yugiri asked, sounding and looking rather surprised.

Sakura had to stand up from where she and the other zombie girls all sat on the floor and shout over all of them in order to get them to settle down. "Quiet!" Sakura bellowed, unfortunately making Ayumu cower and cover her ears with her hands due to how loud she was. After she apologized to Ayumu when Lily was able to get her to clam down, Sakura turned her attention back to the other girls.

"Lily, Ayumu and I went to Sigrid's old friend's place because we were concerned with how Sigrid was acting earlier this morning," the long-haired zombie girl explained, "We hoped that by getting some insight on her past, we would be able to help Sigrid out of the funk she had fallen into when she woke up earlier today."

Sigrid, with her arms crossed over her chest, remarked with a slight hint of self-amusement in her tone, "I wasn't aware that my emotional well-being was of so high a priority to you. Truly you flatter me."

"Oh! Before I forget!" Lily said suddenly, making everyone look to her as she pulled out her smartphone, turned it on, and fiddled around with it for a bit. After she pulled something up on her smartphone, Lily turned it around and showed what she had pulled up to Sigrid. "Your old friend said that she collected this after you died and had kept it ever since," the child actress zombie girl said as Sigrid's eyes widened with shocked surprise upon recognizing what she was being shown. A look of confused concentration entered Lily's expression as she said, "I think that miss Nagi called it-"

"Ulfberht," Sigrid said, cutting Lily off but doing so in a way that finished what Lily was going to say anyway. Sigrid slowly took Lily's smartphone from her so she could bring the screen closer to her undead eyes. The half-foreign zombie girl could not believe what she was seeing; her cherished bat was not only still around, but it was now an heirloom weapon cared for by an old friend from her previous life.

To think that her closest ally from when she still walked among the living was doing well, having lived and gave birth to a son. But Sigrid was moved beyond words when she realized that very friend of hers was carrying on her legacy, her warrior's will, by safekeeping the very armament that Sigrid herself had used in her efforts to unite all of the delinquent gangs of the Japan from her time under a single banner.

Slowly, with a hint of somberness, Sigrid returned Lily's smartphone to her. "…Thank you, little one," Sigrid said, her tone somewhat subdued, "Giving this knowledge to me means more to me than you can begin to guess." The half-foreign zombie girl's tone sounded like she had just been reunited with multiple old friends of hers that mean everything to her draugr heart.

Lily was able to tell that she had done Sigrid a huge favor, and that alone was enough to make the child actress zombie girl glad. Glad that she had made the day for someone who she had just learned was a lot more awesome than she had initially assumed. Don't get Lily wrong; Ayumu is still her Big Sis, and no one can ever be as awesome in Lily's eyes as the teen actress that Lily wanted to be like. But Sigrid had just moved a few spaces up in Lily's ladder of the other zombie girls from least cool to coolest.

Tae and Yugiri are currently tied for least cool in Lily's opinion, in case you were wondering.

* * *

Outside of and across the street from the abandoned mansion in Saga prefecture that the girls of Franchouchou call home, one would be very much surprised to see a grown man sitting in the tree, his gaze fixed firmly on the. Although many would first assume that this man was one of the paparazzi that had taken to trying to dig into the Franchouchou girls as much as possible, this actually was _not_ the case. But then again, most paparazzi wouldn't be dressed like _that_.

He wore a long-sleeved dark shirt under a green sleeveless flask jacket, pants that ended halfway down his shins with said pants being in a color similar to his shirt, a pair of open-toed sandals, and a headband over his forehead, with a metal plate that had an etching of a stylized leaf in the center. The man was fair skinned, and he had raven black hair that shot up and back, aside from some bangs that were framing his handsome face, a face that currently showed boredom.

Boredom that came to an end when another man dressed very similar to him landed on the branch in the tree next to him. The only differences were that this second man did not wear a headband over his forehead, and his hair was all pulled back into a single men's ponytail that gave off a sort-of samurai vibe. "I'm here to relieve you and take over the steak out, Sasuke," the second man said to the first.

"Heh," the first man, apparently named Sasuke, chuckled with a hint of mild amusement in his tone, "The ongoing war must be leaving the village really short-staffed if Naruto has to send us, his advisors, out on a steak out mission." Giving his fellow a wry look, Sasuke continued, "Wouldn't you agree, Shikamaru?"

"Well ever since Konoha intelligence gathered evidence suggesting that the actresses that star in 'Saga Stories' might be some manner of undead, you can see why it was prudent to try and gather as much additional info before we proceed with anything," the second man, apparently named Shikamaru, remarked, "Would _you_ want to deal with a bunch of undead running around, and while we and our allied villages have a war on our hands no less?"

Nodding once in agreement, Sasuke said, "I see your point." Getting up from where he was sitting on that branch, Sasuke said, "Take care, man." He then took his leave, leaving so suddenly that one would assume he actually teleported instantly. Alone in that tree, Shikamaru proceeded to pick up where Sasuke left off in the steak out of the mansion that the Franchouchou girls live in.

END, SAGA STORIES CHAPTER SEVEN

Author's notes:

This chapter does not have a counterpart in the series proper, as this was a Sigrid-centric chapter and she's an OC exclusive to this AU story's setting. Even so, putting time into developing the new zombie girls is something that I'm aiming to do. Just so you know, Sigrid's bat Ulfberht is a plot element that will be cropping up later down the line, so keep your eyes peeled for that. Also, the world that 'Saga Stories' belongs to just got a little bit bigger, not that any of the zombie girls are aware of it just yet.

But that's is something else for some other time. The next chapter will see Lily have her time in the spotlight. Lily, like most of the other base seven zombie girls, will have a different cause of death in this story compared to what she got in the series proper; Lily's COD is the only thing about her that I'm really changing, if I'm to be completely honest here. Everything else about the child actress zombie girl is A-Okay in my book.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Zombie Land Saga, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Saga Stories: A tale of Zombie Land Saga

Chapter eight: A giant is reminded of his late little princess

Over at the abandoned mansion in Saga that the zombie girls resided in, they were all looking at a magazine that Saki had procured. "Damn it," the delinquent zombie girl swore, "Those idiots at Sagazine Today just won't leave us the fuck alone, will they?" The girls that were immediately next to Saki on her left and right respectively, Sakura and Junko, could see what Saki was talking about; the issue of Sagazine Today that Saki held had a few more articles about their actress troop, Franchouchou, including the now usual article that goes on about how Junko, Ai, Lily and Ayumu all resembled late idols and actresses.

Saki gave the page that she had the magazine open to a light smack with the back of her right hand before saying, "Apparently, their investigation started as far back as shortly after our gig over at Saga Castle." Scoffing in a clearly annoyed tone, the delinquent zombie girl swore, "Will they just leave us alone already?"

"That's one of the costs of being a famous celebrity, Saki," Junko remarked, the hint of knowingness in the Showa idol zombie girl's tone suggesting that all of this that was going on wasn't her first rodeo. Taking the magazine away from Saki, Junko said as she held it open to the page that Saki had it on, "Once one hits the big time, there will undoubtedly be people coming out of the woodwork aiming to learn any and everything that they can about you for whatever reason, most often having something to do with lining their own pockets."

Junko passed the magazine back to Saki who, when she saw that Sakura wanted it, handed it over to the long-haired zombie girl. "…There's this one short article that states a few theories about us," Sakura remarked, "Submitted to Sagazine Today by some fellow whose name was withheld at his request. Apparently, what little he shared with the magazine was approved ahead of time by his village's governing body." The picture that accompanied the article that Sakura was pointing out showed a rather handsome-faced man with jet black hair that spiked back aside from some face framing bangs; the man in the picture also wore a headband that had a metal plate with a stylized leaf engraving in the center.

"Still, there is no denying that we are all on the fast track to fame," Hikari pointed out, "Sure, we're dealing with some negativity in the form of certain persons trying to look into us to learn what they can, but it's overshadowed by how many fans that 'Saga Stories' has garnered ever since the airing of the series premiere." Looking up from where the magazine was to the rest of her fellow undead, the gamer zombie girl said, "All of the things we've done on the side, such as the various commercials and that meet and greet panel we did very recently, has only served to further boost our popularity as a household name in Japan."

Gesturing to Hikari, Sigrid said, "She's got a point. There's no denying that we've commanded a lot of admiration for a bunch of draugr." Pointing to one of the pictures in the open magazine, the half-foreign zombie girl said, "In fact, this photo that was taken at the meet and greet panel states that 'Saga Stories' has quickly become one of Japan's top ten non-anime shows, and one of the top fifteen shows in Japan overall."

"And we do look pretty good pretty good," Saki remarked, a hint of amusement in her tone, "Whoever took this photo of the nine of us got us at a pretty good angle."

"Nine of us?" Sakura repeated, her tone sounding mildly confused, "Saki, there's ten of us."

After shooting a mildly confused look at Sakura, Saki replied, "Really?" Turning her attention back to the photo in the magazine, the delinquent zombie girl continued, "Sorry, but when I last saw, I swore that I couldn't see Shrimpy anywhere in-" Saki stopped short, looked at the photo for a moment, then said with a hint of knowingness in her tone, "Oh, there she is." Turning to look at Lily, Saki said, "Sorry Shrimpy, but I guess that you're so small that I just couldn't spot you at first."

The child actress zombie girl was clearly rather unamused by Saki's joking around at her expense. Lily pouted a bit as she turned her head away, huffing a bit as she said, "Did it look like I was asking you for your opinion, Saki?"

"Oh, don't mind her," Sakura reassured Lily, "I think that you did fantastic at the meet and greet. Also, you look really cute in the photo of all of us."

Hearing the praise from the long-haired zombie girl, Lily perked right back up as she turned to face Sakura. With a bit of a happy giggle in her tone, Lily asked, "Do you really think that I was cute?" Sakura gave an approving nod in the affirmative as she hummed in a likewise one.

"I have to agree with Sakura," Ayumu said to her child counterpart, "You looked downright adorable at the meet and greet, just as you do right now. Also, that star ornament that you wear in your hair suits you well Lily, given that you're a star yourself and all."

Lily was happy to the point of bashfulness as she was being doted on by Sakura and Ayumu. Sure, some of the other zombie girls liked to mess around with her and each other, but at least the child actress zombie girl could count on her Big Sis and Sakura to be kind and respectful to her. Lily was thankful, as well as a little bit amused, that there were people who would regularly tell her how adorable she was. Adorableness was something that Lily wanted to maintain about herself on a regular basis, and the fact that, as a zombie, she was stuck at her current biological age, would make it so that Lily would remain small and cute.

Just the way that she wants things to be.

…

In a smaller office building somewhere in Saga, a few men were seated at desks as they worked away. All of them wore light bluish men's dress shirts, black pants and black shoes, although one particularly tall and rather large bald-headed man in the back wore a white towel draped around his neck and shoulders. One man with wild, yellowish-orange hair turned to a man with black hair and glasses and said, "Yamamoto, what do you want for lunch?"

"Sicilian rice," the black-haired man, apparently named Yamamoto, replied as he picked up a remote and used it to turn on a TV that was in the office room. The TV briefly showed a weather report before it returned to a morning news show.

"In local news," the news anchor said, "People here in Saga are going wild over the results of the tournament between U.A. High School and Vulcan High, two of the top hero high schools in Japan. The tournament ended with first, second and third places all occupied by U.A. students. We here at Saga News tried to get an exclusive with one of the winning students, but none of the reporters that went to the school were able to get in as they were turned away by the pro hero…"

As the news went on, the large man that sat in the back of that office work space got up from his desk suddenly. When the large man got up, the man with the wild hair turned to look at him. "How about you, man?" the wild-haired man said to his tall and large co-worker, "What will you be having for lunch?" The large man at first said nothing; instead he merely sighed and gently shook his head.

"Nothing for me," the large man replied in a mildly subdued tone as he turned to leave, "I'll be back soon."

As the large man lumbered out of the office work space, the wild-haired man said, "Okay…" After the large man had left, the wild-haired man turned to Yamamoto and asked, "Does he leave for lunch _every_ day or something?"

"It's because he doesn't like TV all that much," Yamamoto explained, the somewhat tired hint in his tone suggesting that this wasn't the first time that he had to explain the large man's aversion to television to someone.

With a shrug, the wild-haired man said, "Man, it seems like a lot of folks are leaving TV behind, what with all of the advances in streaming and information sharing now and days, huh?"

"That's not exactly his reason for loathing television so much," Yamamoto replied, a hint of dry knowingness in his tone. As Yamamoto spoke, the Drive-In Tori commercial that the girls of the actress troop Franchouchou shot played when the news went to commercial break.

…

Over at a nearby park, the large man sat on a bench as he read a magazine. He took a bite out of a roll that he had as part of his lunch, more or less eating the whole thing in one bite. As he chewed, the large man looked over a bit and saw a young girl over near a slide; the young girl was playing with a stuffed turtle plushy, her white toy ball laying on the ground at her feet seemingly forgotten. Judging by the young girl's height, the large man figured that she couldn't have yet reached a double-digit age.

By no means was the large man seeing the young girl with undue thoughts. Rather, the presence of the young girl in and of itself made the large man take pause, as if simply seeing her reminded him of something from his past. As the young girl gently tucked her turtle plushy into a side bag that she was wearing, she bent over to pick up her ball. When she got back up, the young girl saw that the large man was looking in her direction. Surprisingly, the young girl was not worried; in fact, she shot him a friendly smile.

A few seconds later, a woman came over to the girl. "Sweetie, there you are," the woman said to the girl, surprisingly not even noticing the large man, "Come along now. We're going to get lunch at the nearby Taco Queen before we go visit your father over at jail since he got arrested by those Special Forces that came here from Konoha."

The young girl smiled and giggled a bit as she said, "Okay, mommy! Daddy is really nice since he bought me Mr. Turtle here!" The mother and daughter pair left the park, although the young girl shot a good-bye look to the large man as she left with her mother, a look that the mother did not notice her daughter give.

After the mother and child left the park, the large man went back to reading the magazine that he had brought with him. The large man was done reading the page he was on, so he flipped it over to the next page. However, when he got a look at the photo on one of the next pages, he stopped short, given that what he saw had shocked him, had taken him by surprise.

It was a picture of the ten girls of the actress troop Franchouchou; to be specific, it was a picture of all ten of the Franchouchou girls together that was taken at the open mic performance that occurred back at Saga Castle, shortly after number one totally thrashed number four in that epic but rather impromptu rap battle. The large man's concentration was focused specifically on one of the girls in the photo.

As he looked at that specific girl, the large man looked like he had just seen a ghost. He couldn't believe what he was seeing as he looked at the specific girl in the photo that he was looking at. His eyes widened a bit as he slowly gasped out of shocked surprise. "No…no way…" the large man said as his hands trembled while holding the magazine that he was reading, "…There's no way that…that it could be _her_…"

* * *

Later in the basement room of the abandoned mansion, the zombie girls were all seated in a row in front of Kotaro, who was blowing on a seashell trumpet of some sort. "Good morning, ladies!" Kotaro greeted the girls, his early morning eccentricity drawing befuddled looks out of most of the zombie girls.

"Good morning, Kotaro-san," Sakura replied, being one of the few of the girls who wasn't confused enough to not know what to say.

"It's…it's nice to see you," Junko said, a bit unsure of what to make of what Kotaro was doing with the seashell trumpet.

Gesturing to the zombie girls as a whole, Kotaro said, "You girls have certainly rustled up a lot of great press in recent events, what with the meet and greet panel we did and all. You girls are riding on a wave of popularity as we speak."

Junko blushed a little from the praise that the eccentric man was giving her and the others. Seeing this, Sakura couldn't help but give a small but sincere smile. "_I_'_m glad to see that_, _even with all of the recent trouble we_'_ve been having in regards to various people trying to dig into us_," Sakura thought, "_That Junko is starting to do better again_."

"And how about you?" Kotaro said as he turned his attention to Sakura, getting the long-haired zombie girl to turn to look at him.

Sakura, who was caught by surprise, wasn't exactly sure on what to say. "Oh, umm," Sakura began, "I don't know, umm, aren't you going to say don't get-"

"DO GET COCKY!" Kotaro exclaimed loudly, cutting Sakura off. Getting right up into her face, Kotaro said, "You're all over TV, aren't you?! You got to ride this popularity wave, girl!" With a bit of an amused smirk, Kotaro added as he nudged Sakura with his elbow, "Surfs' up, little kahuna! Heh." Sakura was only made more confused by Kotaro's behavior here; she had no idea what to make of the eccentric man's eccentricity.

Kotaro then turned his attention over to Lily, who he walked over to. "And how are you enjoying your rise to stardom, Lily?" Kotaro asked, "That star decoration on your head getting any bigger by any chance, hmm?"

Lily, a bit flustered by Kotaro talking about her hair decoration, promptly covered it with both of her hands. "No, that's dumb," the child actress zombie girl replied, "It's made of plastic, so it can't grow any bigger!" Lily cowered back a bit when Kotaro suddenly got more up close into her personal space than she appreciated.

"Hmm?" the eccentric man asked, a hint of mild amusement in his tone, "Oh, is something wrong? Did I hurt your feelings?"

"Mr. Kotaro, I'm going to have to ask that you not tease Lily like that," Ayumu said in a firm tone, with a similarly firm look on her face, as she looked over and saw how Kotaro had Lily cowering a bit, "It's very obvious that you're making Lily feel very uncomfortable." Kotaro looked over in Ayumu's direction for a bit before he returned his focus to Lily. After he stared at the child actress zombie girl for a bit, he stuck his tongue out at Lily in a teasing gesture.

…

"Anyway," Kotaro said as he finally got the meeting underway, "If we're going to do more to amass as much fame for you girls as possible, we're going to have to do what we can to make 'Saga Stories' a household name in not just Saga, but all of Japan. We've got to be in the words of every man, woman and child out there. If there's an open eyeball out there, I want at least one of you girls in it. Do I make myself clear?"

"And how in the name of Vishnu do you propose we do that?" Saki asked, shooting Kotaro an inquisitive look.

Pointing dramatically at the zombie girls as a whole, Kotaro said, "We've got to have a good old-fashioned zombie outbreak!"

"I'm pretty certain that everyone will freak out if draugr such as us suddenly ran roughshod out in the streets," Sigrid pointed out, her tone similarly as dry as the one Saki was using.

"That's not what I meant," Kotaro replied, "We need to get you girls out there as much as possible. Pop-up shows. TV spots. Meet ups. If there's an event where we can get you girls out there to meet the populace, then we've got to scoop that chance up like an eagle swooping in over a lake to catch a fish in its talons!" Kotaro then held his seashell trumpet up and blew into it again, making the same trumpeting noise that he made the last time he did it. In the opinion of some of the zombie girls, the trumpeting sound sounded as if the seashell trumpet itself was in the middle of being tortured.

* * *

The girls of Franchouchou went through a series of appearing at small events; they did one or two singing performances on stage where Ai and Junko shone particularly well, the girls went to a video game convention where Hikari blew everyone that faced her out of the water with her sheer skills as a gamer, and the girls also went to a traditional Japanese summer festival, and they even went on an event at an outdoor mall where they starred alongside some people in large suit costumes to put on a show for children.

That last one didn't go exactly smooth as at one point Tae, for some odd reason that could only be explained by her unawakened instincts driving her, attacked a guy that was wearing this cartoonishly cute kappa costume. Even so, the rest of Franchouchou was able to smooth all of that business out and not only save the event, but go on to mark it as another success for their efforts in trying to spread the name of 'Saga Stories'.

However, it was at that event at the outdoor mall that a particular someone was watching the girls of Franchouchou from a distance. It was the large man that had something of an aversion to television. He stood partly behind a pillar, and nobody noticed him, mostly because at the time he was hiding there, everyone that was watching the performance was distracted by how Tae was attacking the kappa guy while Sakura, Lily and Ayumu worked to try pulling off the unawakened zombie girl while Yugiri, Ai, Juno and Hikari looked on with shocked looks of surprise on their faces while both Saki and Sigrid pointed and laughed at what Tae was doing.

The large man, as he focused on one of the girls of Franchouchou specifically, had a look of seriousness on his face, as if there was something he could not help but suspect.

…

At a later event, Kotaro stood on stage with the girls as the girls themselves stood behind him. The eccentric man spoke into a microphone as he addressed the gathered audience. "Alright, people," Kotaro began with a hint of egging on in his tone, "Who here is ready with a photo op with their favorite member of Franchouchou?" The crowd went wild with excitement as they were all eager to get their picture taken with one of the ten actresses that star in 'Saga Stories'.

"By the way," Kotaro said to the audience as he reached into a pocket on the inside of the jacket top he wore. He pulled out some photos and held them in a sort of hand of playing cards manner, revealing all of them as pictures of Tae. "Number zero is unfortunately a bit under the weather at the moment," Kotaro explained, "But if any of you still wanted to get a photo of her, I have some right here that were autographed by number zero ahead of time."

As Kotaro gave his explanation to the audience, Sakura looked over to where he stood and smiled a bit; given that Tae was still unawakened, there was no predicting how she would react at any given moment. Thankfully, Kotaro had taken this into account and had Tae spirited away to a lounge room located in the performance center that they were all at; a few of the men that were in cahoots with Kotaro were keeping an eye on Tae. There really were very few instances where the eccentric man dropped the ball, after all.

…But Sakura did have to question some of the choices in the photos that Kotaro had signed ahead of time for people who wanted a photo of Tae. One had Tae sitting on the floor and looking around mindlessly, one had Tae chewing on a dried squid snack, one had Tae biting down on Junko's head for some odd reason, one had Tae trying to climb up the inside of the brick wall that surrounded the abandoned mansion the girls all lived at, and one had Tae being slugged in the stomach by a very steamed-looking Sigrid. And those were just the five that the long-haired zombie girl saw; she had no idea what other photos of Tae that Kotaro had prepared ahead of time.

After he put the photos away, Kotaro said, "Now remember, touching is prohibited. Please don't try to be creepy to the girls, alright?"

* * *

The photo op was going pretty well since the girls began to have their pictures taken with the fans that came to see them. Sakura assisted in taking a picture where Junko stood next to a teenage boy that was a fan of 'Saga Stories'; this boy had fair skin, although there was a rather bad burn mark that covered the area of his face around his left eye. His medium-long length hair was crimson red on the left side and snow white on the right, and he had heterochromia that had his left eye look turquoise and his right look somewhat gray. As for his outfit, the teenage boy wore a long-sleeved casual dress shirt over a white t-shirt, a pair of jeans held up with a belt, and a pair of black shoes.

As Sakura handed the teenage boy the photo of him with Junko, his somewhat stoic looking façade melted a bit as he gave a small but sincere and appreciative smile. "…Thank you, girls," the teenage boy said to Sakura and Junko. Turning to face Junko, the teenage boy continued, "Especially you, number four. You're my mother's favorite actress on 'Saga Stories', and I figured that she'd like this since she's still in the hospital and thus couldn't make it."

"Aww, you actually used your one photo to take a picture with me to get for your sick mother?" Junko remarked, touched that this boy would use the only photo that he would be able to get to instead take a picture with her, rather than whoever was his own favorite actress on the show.

"Umm, number four," Sakura said as she turned to Junko, "Everyone here can potentially have their photo taken with all of us. Who told you that everyone was allowed only one photo with one of us?"

Junko, with a mildly embarrassed look on her face, turned to face Sakura and said, "Sorry, I just assumed that we were giving a one photo per person deal." Turning to face the teenage boy, the Showa idol zombie girl said, "I guess that you can get into another line to have your photo taken with whichever one of my co-actresses is your favorite on the show."

The teenage boy nodded once in acknowledgement to Junko before saying, "I'd have to say that number nine is my favorite. The whole gamer vibe her character gives off reminds me a lot of some of my classmates over at U.A." The teenage boy nodded once in thanks to both Sakura and Junko before he turned around and took his leave to go get into the line so that he could have his picture taken with Hikari.

When the teenage boy was gone, Sakura turned to face Junko. "Wow, Junko," Sakura remarked, "You're doing pretty well for someone who used to be an idol in the Showa era that didn't like to meet with fans up close."

"We're in the Reiwa era now," Junko replied, understanding what Sakura was trying to get at, "And we're actresses, not idols." Nodding once, the Showa idol zombie girl said, "Both the era and the profession are different for me, so I figured that it would be best for me to approach this with a different mindset."

Sakura nodded in acknowledgement of Junko's reasoning. The long-haired zombie girl was glad to see that Junko had developed so much as a person, had grown past some previous insecurities that would have otherwise held her back as an actress. Sakura would have praised Junko for her advancing as a person, but before Sakura could get one word out, she was cut off when Saki and Sigrid came quickly walking over to her.

"Don't look now Egghead, but we've got trouble," Saki said, her tone carrying some mildly worried warning.

"Trouble?" Sakura repeated, looking a bit alarmed, "What happened?"

Sigrid jerked a thumb over her right shoulder, prompting Sakura to follow the direction that the half-foreign zombie girl was pointing out to her. As such, Sakura ended up seeing the large man that was at the outdoor mall performance (not that any of the Franchouchou girls noticed him, due to what Tae was doing at that time). "Apparently, the elfish man that manages us didn't decide to warn us ahead of time that some of those who would have their pictures taken with us here were _jötunn_," Sigrid remarked, her tone similar to that of Saki's.

Seeing so large of a man approach one of the lines took Sakura by surprise. "Whoa," Sakura said in a hushed tone so only Saki, Sigrid and the nearby Junko could hear her, "That man's giant!"

"That's what I said," Sigrid remarked somewhat dryly, "He's a jötunn."

"My guess?" Saki began, suspicion clear in her tone, "That man is part of a yakuza gang. No doubt about it. Shades probably got into some trouble, and Mr. Jötunn over there as Sigrid calls him is here to collect what Shades owes."

Sakura moaned a bit in a clearly worried tone. "Oh, that sounds really bad," the long-haired zombie girl remarked. Looking around, Sakura tried to find Kotaro, but she failed to spot even one sign of the eccentric man. "…Hang on a minute," Sakura said, "Where _is_ Kotaro-san?"

Scoffing, Saki remarked, "He must have run off with his tail between his legs."

"As cowardly as such actions may be," Sigrid began, "The elfish man cannot be truly faulted for such actions. Not everyone can face a jötunn in battle and live to tell the tale." Rolling her shoulders a bit, the half-foreign zombie girl said, "By the gods, what I'd give to have Ulfberht on hand with me right now, if only to have to deter the jötunn from taking any foul actions."

Sakura, Saki, Sigrid and Junko all watched as, to their mild surprise, the large man got up to one of the lines. Getting the attention of the person in front of him, who was holding up a sign that said 'end of line for number six', the large man got the sign and held it up himself. "He's here for Shrimpy?" Saki asked rhetorically, surprised that the large man was apparently at the photo op to get a picture taken with Lily.

"I guess's he one of Lily's fans," Junko commented, a hint of worry still in her tone.

Gently shaking her head, Saki scoffed as she said, "I wouldn't count on it, Junko. We're all well aware that there are some weirdos out there ever since Sagazine started putting out all of those articles about us. For all we know, he probably came here because he wants to kidnap Shrimpy."

Junko's eyes widened in alarm as she said, "We've got to do something!"

Sakura looked like she was thinking of something for a moment. After she looked like she had come up with something, the long-haired zombie girl said to Saki, Sigrid and Junko, "You girls keep an eye on Lily. I'm going to go find someone that I hope can help." Before Junko or either of the former delinquent girls could stop her, Sakura took off, leaving them to do as she asked and keep an eye on Lily to make sure the large man didn't do anything.

…

"Your show is amazing!" a young teen boy said to Lily, "I can't wait for next week's episode!"

Lily, smiling a big smile, said, "Thank you so much!" The young teen boy turned to leave since he had his photo taken with Lily, but when he turned, he stopped short when he saw who it was that was behind him. Regaining his composure quickly, the young teen boy left just in time to avoid the large man, whose mere presence made the young teen boy feel mildly unsettled at best. After the young teen boy left, Lily, who still had her eyes closed as she was smiling big, turned to face forward, as she could tell that whoever it was that was next in line to see her had walked up. "Hello!" Lily greeted, "I'm number six! It's nice to meet-" The child actress zombie girl was cut off when, as she opened her eyes to see who it was that came to meet her, she was surprised by just who it was.

Lily looked more than a little shocked to see the large man, but not because the large man had towered over her so much that the shadow he cast completely covered Lily. Rather, Lilly looked like she was shocked due to seeing something/someone from the past, a past that she thought that she wouldn't be dealing with again.

"You…" the large man said, his tone sounding with disbelief, "…You really…" The large man knelt down as he reached forward, putting his large hands on Lily's shoulders. Lily was too surprised to move out of the way, too stunned to see this large man that she was very familiar with. Over where Saki, Sigrid and Junko were watching, Junko looked alarmed that the large man was so close to Lily while Saki and Sigrid both looked like they were ready to go to war.

Rolling up the right sleeve of her short-sleeved red and white jacket as she saw what was going on, Saki swore, "Oh fuck no!" With Sigrid at her side, Saki began to run towards where Lily was facing off against the large man as she said, "I don't think-"

The delinquent zombie girl was cut off, as well as stopping with Sigrid mid-stride, when she and a few others in the surrounding area saw the large man suddenly encased in a large hunk of ice that encased all of him except for his head and hands. Due to sheer surprise to being frozen like that, the large man couldn't help but remove his hands from Lily, allowing her to back away over to where she spotted Saki and Sigrid, who were soon joined by Junko.

As she and her fellow undead who were with her looked at the ice-encased man, Sigrid remarked in a confused tone as she gestured to the frozen large man, "What manner of sorcery be this that had encased the jötunn in this ice?"

"Over here, girls!" Sakura's voice called out, making Sigrid, Saki, Junko and Lily turn to face the direction Sakura's voice came from. When they did, they saw Sakura run up to them, with the teenage boy that had his picture taken with Junko earlier as a gift for his hospitalized mom. Gesturing to the teenage boy, Sakura explained to her fellow actresses, "I remember that this boy who got his picture taken with number four earlier said that he goes to U.A.," Sakura explained, "So I was hoping that he might have been able to help with that large, scary man. He's the one who created that ice to capture the large man."

"I hope that I didn't cause too much of a disturbance by using my quirk to stop that man from doing whatever it was that he was going to do," the teenage boy remarked.

Saki and the others turned from looking to the teenage boy, to looking at the large frozen man, then back to the teenage boy, and they kept that up for a few turns before settling on the teenage boy for a few seconds. Turning to look at Sakura, Saki said while pointing to the teenage boy, "Get this guy a picture taken with all ten of us. He is _awesome_!"

"Umm…" Sakura said, "…Well number zero is still a bit under the weather…" Sakura saw out of the corner of her eye that Lily slowly walked towards where the large man was frozen in ice. Quickly getting Lily, Sakura said as she led the child actress zombie girl away, "Lily, don't go near that guy. He looks like bad news."

"But…" Lily said as she was led away, her neck turning a bit so that she could look over at the large man for as long as she could, "…But that man is my…"

…

Kotaro came walking out of a bathroom, singing a little song to himself as he dried his hands on a cloth towel he had with him. When he left the bathroom, Kotaro was approached by a panicked looking Junko. "Excuse me," the Showa idol zombie girl said, "But we got trouble." The smile that the eccentric man had going soon faded into a mildly unamused frown, a bit concerned over how there was apparently some trouble to deal with now.

* * *

In a backstage office room, Sakura, Kotaro, Saki, Ai and Sigrid all had the large man (who had since been freed from the ice he was trapped in) sitting on a chair as they all stood around him, all of them on guard; Tae was even growling angrily at the large man, as if she were a guard dog of some sort. Lily was outside of the backstage office room with Junko, Yugiri, Ayumu and Hikari as they allowed the others to deal with the large man.

"What in the name of the All-father is your deal, you oafish jötunn?!" Sigrid snapped angrily at the large man, "It was made clear that touching me and my fellows was prohibited!"

"Exactly, dumbass!" Saki snapped at the large man, "Number eight here is right! Just what the hell were you thinking?!"

The large man, clearly humbled, let out a sigh. "…I'm sorry…" the large man said, "…It's just that…that girl looks like…"

"Shrimpy looks like what, exactly?" Saki demanded, "Spill already!"

As Kotaro and the girls in the office room dealt with the large man, Lily and the other girls that were outside waited around, listening in on what was going on inside. The child actress zombie girl had a particularly troubled and resigned look on her face. Junko, Yugiri, Hikari and Ayumu all regarded their clearly troubled younger co-actress with looks of concern; Ayumu seemed to be particularly worried, due in no small part to the big sister-little sister dynamic that had formed between her and her child counterpart.

Inside of the office room, the large man began to explain what was going on to Kotaro and the girls that were inside with him. "…Eight years ago," the large man said as he began to explain things, "There was this famous child actress on TV called Lily Hoshikawa." The girls that were in the room, as well as those who were listening in from outside, all had surprised looks on their faces when the large man mentioned Lily's true name, shocked that the large man had not only recognized Lily, but even knew what her name was. This was something that none of the girls had even anticipated, so they weren't exactly prepared for what to do.

* * *

Later that night back at the abandoned mansion, the zombie girls, aside from Lily who wasn't in the room at the time, were all sitting around in the futon room, all of them dressed in what they all had for sleepwear. "What happened to Lily earlier today could happen to any one of us," Ai said to the others in a tone of warning. Looking over to where Junko sat next to Ayumu, Ai went on, "Especially me, Junko and Ayumu."

"You raise a point," Junko remarked to her Heisei counterpart, "We don't use names, but are faces can be recognized." Crossing her arms over her chest, Junko added, "I blame that blasted Sagazine Today magazine, what with them trying to dig into our pasts and all." Letting out a resigned sigh, the Showa idol zombie girl remarked, "But even if that blasted magazine wasn't trying to look into us, some of us would get recognized eventually."

"It appears that there are dangers to being famous," Yugiri remarked, "Especially since we're all zombies but some of us have those who remember us from when we were still alive."

Scoffing as she stretched her arms into the air, Saki said, "This is one hell of a fucking drag." Falling over onto her back so that she laid on her futon, Saki continued, "And who's to say that this won't happen to any of us again?"

Sakura looked around the futon room at her fellow undead, but stopped short when she noticed that Lily wasn't in the room. "Hang on," the long-haired zombie girl began, "Shouldn't Lily have been done washing up by now?"

…

Outside at a public park near the abandoned mansion, Lily, wearing her sleep outfit, was sitting on one of the slides. Lily had wisely used monster glamour to make herself look human, even though there was very little chance that someone would randomly see her at this time of night. It was here that Sakura and Ayumu, both of them also using monster glamour to appear human and also wearing their respective sleep outfits, found Lily sulking to herself.

"There you are, Lily," Sakura said, sounding relieved as she and Ayumu approached the troubled Lily, "You weren't in the bathroom when we checked on you, so we got a little worried."

Lily turned her head to look back down at her feet, her somber expression unchanging. "Sorry for making you both worry," the child actress zombie girl replied, "But I just can't help but feel confused." Letting out a sigh, Lily said, "Confused by that large man from earlier today."

"You want to talk about it, Little Sis?" Ayumu asked, the concern in her tone clear.

Lily perked up a bit when she heard the teen actress that she idolized refer to her as 'Little Sis', instantly making her feel a little better. As such, it made Lily more willing and open to talk. "Big Sis, Sakura," Lily began, "You see, that large man from earlier was…" Letting out a resigned sigh, Lily said, "…You see, he was actually my papa."

Both Sakura and Ayumu were a bit taken aback by surprise by what Lily had just told the two of them. "That was your dad?" Sakura nearly exclaimed, "Your dad is a yakuza?"

"Wait a minute," Ayumu said, a confused look on his face, "I thought that Sigrid said that the man was something called a jötunn."

Lily turned to look at Sakura and Ayumu and said, "Huh? What, no. My papa is just really big, is all. I take more after my mama." Lily looked back down to her feet, her somber expression unchanging. "It never occurred to me that my papa might attend one of our fan events," the child actress zombie girl said in a somber, resigned tone.

The two older zombie girls nodded in agreement and sympathy for Lily, with Sakura even adding, "I bet that it feels weird."

"To be honest…" Lily said as she sounded like she was about to tell a story about her past, "…I've actually been trying to forget about papa, but now I can't…"

(FLASHBACK)

(DATE: JULY 11TH, 2009)

The flashback showed a scene of Lily sitting with her dad at a table in their house, eating dinner together. A side shot of that seen showed an in-home Japanese style memorial shrine that had a framed photo of a beautiful woman whose long hair was in color similar to that of Lily's hair; the framed photo was somewhat hidden behind a bowl.

"You see, it was usually just the two of us, papa and me," Lily said as her story narrated over the flashback, "But even so, I never really ever felt all that lonely. I knew that mama was watching over us from up in the sky. We also had a TV set, and papa's favorite thing to do was to relax in front of the TV together. He'd used to say that the only thing that made watching TV better was if you watched it with someone else, to cry and laugh along with them." The flashback then cut to a scene of Lily and her dad sitting on the sofa together, laughing at something that they saw.

The flashback then showed Lily sitting at the table while she was writing something out, probably for homework, while her dad sat on the sofa. "Papa would always want me to come join him on the couch to watch TV with him," the child actress zombie girl said, "Even if I was working on some homework." The flashback then showed Lily having joined her dad on the sofa, before cutting to another scene where Lily walked up to her dad as he was crying over something that he saw on TV which had moved him to tears. "Seeing how much papa enjoyed TV made me really happy," Lily said as she continued to narrate, "So I thought that it would be nice if I could make him smile from inside of the TV."

(FLASHBACK OVER)

Lily sat in silence for a few seconds in that public park with Sakura and Ayumu. Turning her head slightly to face Ayumu, Lily said, "Wanting to make my papa happy like that is one of the other things that inspired me to go into acting, aside from me wanting to be like you, Big Sis."

"Aww," Ayumu remarked, "It's really sweet that you wanted to do something that would make your father proud, Lily."

Nodding in agreement, Sakura remarked, "I have to agree with that, Lily. The fact that you wanted to do so much for someone else says a lot about how good of a person you are."

Lily nodded once in thanks to the older zombie girls. "Thanks," the child actress zombie girl said, "Anyway, I ended up singing on with a child's talent agency, and papa resigned from his job so that he could be my manager. Papa was always right there with me whenever I had work." With a bit of pride in the smile she made, Lily said, "Due to how cute and talented I was right off the bat, everything I got involved in ended up being a huge success."

Lily paused for a bit, letting out a resigned sigh as she did so while her previously smiling expression morphed into one of resigned somberness. "…However," Lily went on, "Once I had made it to the top, something really bad happened…"

(FLASHBACK)

(DATE: NOVEMBER 30TH, 2011)

"Why don't you understand how I feel, papa?!" Lily screamed from inside a dressing room that was set aside for her at a filming studio; Lily and some others who were filming shots for either a few commercials, a scene in a TV episode or whathaveyou, and a lot of them, Lily included, were on break at the moment. Lily's dad stood outside of Lily's dressing room as he heard the sound of something soft hit the door. Judging by the soft 'thump' sound that it made, the large man guessed that it was one of the stuffed animals that Lily kept in her dressing room.

"Lily," the large man called out in a mildly concerned tone, "It's been over a month since that teen actress died in her bath. You can't be upset about it forever."

"YES I CAN!" the child actress screamed, her tone sounding mildly distressed as she threw yet another one of her stuffed animals against her dressing room door, "HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF YOU HEARD THAT SOMEONE WHO MEANT THE WORLD TO YOU HAD DIED?!"

Lily's father just stood outside of his child's dressing room, letting out a mildly resigned sigh as he didn't quite know what to do with the troubled Lily. As the large man stood there, a stage crewman came walking by; he was a young adult in his very early twenties, and had an overall look that made him seem like one of the cool guys that girls of a similar age as him would swoon over. Seeing Lily's father standing outside of the child actress's dressing room like that, as well as having heard some of Lily's shouting, the crewman looked up to Lily's dad.

Patting the large man on the side of his left arm, the crewman said when the large man turned to face him, "She's not the only person in Japan that's still devastated by Ayumu Akarui's death. She was pretty much the country's most popular teen actress, after all."

"I'm just worried about how all of this depression will affect Masao's acting, is all," the large man replied, concern clear in his tone.

Nodding in understanding, the crewman said, "It's a parent's prerogative to be concerned about their child's emotional well-being at times such as this, I suppose." Gently shaking his head, the crewman continued, "But you've got to understand just how much Ayumu meant to your kid. It's always going to be a serious blow when a kid hears that someone who means a whole lot to them dies." With a shrug, the crewman added before he turned around and left, "You need to give the kid as much time as needed to recover."

As the crewman left, Lily's dad turned his attention back to the door that led into Lily's dressing room. The large man had to admit that the crewman made an excellent point on how Lily was going to need as much time as what was needed in order to move on from the death of that teen actress girl. Even so, Lily's father was still very much concerned for his child. "…I hope that you can recover from this soon, Masao…" Lily's dad said, more to himself than to his upset child.

…

Lily, after managing to successfully sneak past her dad, was standing in an alleyway between the filming studio building and the building next to it on it's right (if you're standing outside and facing the filming studio). Looking up into the sky, the child actress let out a resigned, troubled and mildly frustrated sigh.

"I still can't believe how papa isn't taking how I feel seriously," Lily muttered to herself, a mild hint of resentment in her tone, "Ayumu was the coolest person to ever live. I wanted to be just like her. I still do, in fact." Letting out another sigh, Lily said to herself as she looked up while a single tear fell down the side of her face from her right eye, "And now that coolest person ever is dead." Whimpering a bit in a way that suggested that she may start full-out crying again, the child actress said in a voice that was breaking in places here and there, "That just isn't fair. It's just way too cruel to be fair…"

As Lily moped to herself in that alleyway, a door along the wall Lily leaned against, a door that led back into the filming studio building, opened up, and an adult wearing a large pink costume in the shape of a stylized heart came walking out. "Feh, that stupid commercial for the romantic sweets store it borderline degrading," the person in the heart costume muttered to themselves; judging by the voice, it had to be a woman wearing the costume. "Why the hell couldn't my son get that role instead of that Lily brat that everyone's clamoring over?"

As the woman in the heart costume reached into her costume to pull out a pack of cigarettes, she stopped short when, looking over a ways, she spotted Lily leaning against the wall, moping to herself. Due to a mix of how far away Lily was and how quietly the woman was muttering to herself in annoyance, the child actress failed to hear what the woman had said. In fact, due to her moping, Lily didn't even notice that the woman had entered the alleyway at all. As soon as her eyes had fallen onto the child actress, the woman's eyes filled with a fiery, venomous rage.

It was that brat's fault that the woman's son failed to get a role that would have led to his own rise to stardom, which would have allowed the woman herself to get out of having to take bit parts in random commercials such as having to dance around while wearing this near degrading heart costume for the romantic sweets store. In fact, that blue-haired brat had scored a number of roles that would have otherwise gone to other child actors and actress, but the producers and other directors found Lily to be bar none the cutest of the lot, so she frequently scored a lot of roles; oftentimes, Lily was guaranteed to get a part simply by showing up to an audition.

The woman, pure unadulterated fury taking over all of her reasoning, slowly reached into a back pocket on the pants she was wearing inside of her heart costume. After a couple of moments of fiddling around, the woman was able to pull out what she was trying to pull out, a pocket knife with a blade that was at least two and a half inches long. It was a fairly big pocket knife, one that some would say might even be illegal to carry around freely due to how long the blade was.

Uncaring for anything else, the woman, with her knife in hand, went right up to Lily…

…

A few hours later, a lot of onlookers, some of which were paparazzi, were gathered outside of the filming studio building as a few police cars were parked outside of the entrance to the alleyway that Lily was cooling off in. Two relatively young looking police officers were standing off to the side as the two of them were talking to Lily's dad. "What's going on here?" Lily's dad asked the two police officers, "What's with all of this police presence? Masao will get scared if there's a crime scene near the studio."

The first officer, with a mildly confused look on his face, quickly checked the clipboard that he was holding, scanning the top page that was clipped to it. "…Ah, you're Takeo Go," the first officer said, a hint of casualness in his tone, "Yeah, I don't see how all of what's going on here will frighten your kid."

The large man, identified as Takeo Go, asked with a look of mild suspicion on his face, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well the kid was actually in that alleyway, see?" the first officer began as he gestured to the alleyway that Lily was in, "From what we could tell, she was just trying to cool off emotionally."

"Uhh huh," Takeo replied, showing that he was following along.

"One of the women wearing those large heart-shaped costumes for that one commercial that's being shot here at the filming studio entered the alleyway as well," the first officer continued.

"Mmm hmm," Takeo said as he nodded once.

"The woman saw your kid," the first officer remarked.

"Okay," Takeo replied.

"The woman went up to your kid," the first officer explained.

"Yeah," the large man said.

"And then she stabbed your kid thirty-seven times in the chest," the first officer finished, stating what had happened in as casual a way as what anyone could assume was possible.

Takeo, when he heard what had happened to his child, went wide-eyed with shock. He fell to his knees, slowly gasping out of shock as the full weight of realizing just what Lily's fate entailed exactly meant. Tears began to well up in the corners of the large man's eyes as his large, strong form began to shudder noticeably.

The second officer, with a mildly exasperated look on his face, turned to face the first officer. "Caaaaaarrrrrrl," the second officer said, sounding like he can't believe what his fellow had just done, "Why didn't you try softening the blow for him?"

"Well hey, he asked me what happened," the first officer, apparently named Carl, said to the second police officer as he (Carl) gestured to where Takeo was overcome with shock, "And you know me. Honesty is the best policy."

"You just told this man that his preteen daughter was killed in a fatal stabbing in the bluntest way possible, Carl," the second officer complained, sounding very unamused.

Arching an eyebrow at the second police officer, Carl asked, "Are you sure about that? I could be blunter."

"Please don't," the second police officer replied, sounding like he wouldn't look forward to it if Carl went through with what he was talking about.

"I feel like I've been issued a challenge," Carl remarked in a casual, mildly amused tone.

"Don't you dare, Carl!" the second police officer half said half demanded, sounding like he was giving his fellow officer a stern warning.

The two police officers, as they got caught up in their bickering conversation between the two of them, more or less left Takeo there forgotten. The large man still couldn't believe it, even though things were straight up confirmed for him just now; Lily, his only child, his precious little girl, was now gone. The last person in the world who meant anything and everything to the large man was now lying dead in an alleyway, stabbed to death by a vile woman who Takeo would later find out carried out the deed out of extreme jealousy over Lily getting at least one role that would have otherwise gone to her (the woman's) son.

"Masao…" Takeo said in a hushed, somber tone, wishing that this was all some cruel prank and that his child was actually alive and well. But he knew better, knew that there wouldn't have been all of this police presence if there wasn't an actual crime that had just taken place. The large man remembered the last words that he heard his child say, asking him how he'd feel if he just found out if someone who meant the world to him had died.

Well…now Takeo knew.

(FLASHBACK OVER)

In the public park where she sat with Sakura and Ayumu, Lily let out a resigned sigh. "That was the last time that I saw papa while I was still alive," the child actress zombie girl said, her tone very much regretful that her last words to her father while she was still alive was her yelling at him about how she felt he didn't understand her.

"Umm…wait a minute," Sakura began, "What…happened exactly?" Looking up to the night sky a bit, Sakura put the tip of her right index finger to her forehead as she said, "I'm pretty sure that you said you died when someone stabbed you in your chest multiple times." Gently shaking her head, the long-haired zombie girl said when she turned to face Lily, "I'm sorry, but this Masao guy you mentioned a few times. Who is he, exactly?"

"Yeah, I kind of want to know who he is as well," Ayumu admitted.

Lily didn't face either of the older zombie girls; instead, she simply continued to look forward. "…It's what my name used to be," Lily explained, sounding more or less indifferent on the matter. After a few seconds of consideration, both Sakura and Ayumu sounded like they both understood what Lily was getting at. However, not one second after that, both of them turned to look at the child actress zombie girl, looks of sheer surprise on their respective faces.

"Wait, what?!" Sakura and Ayumu practically exclaimed in unison.

END, SAGA STORIES CHAPTER EIGHT

Author's notes:

I wanted to put an especial amount of effort into Lily's time in the spotlight as she's one of my favorites among the main seven zombie girls. However, by the time I got to where Sakura and Ayumu were surprised to learn a certain something about Lily's past, I noticed that I had been dragging this chapter on for way too long. Likewise, I just realized that, in order to properly do Lily's character justice, I'm going to have to give her a two-parter deal here.

The rest of Lily's time in the spotlight will be continued and concluded in the next chapter where, due to the AU nature of this story, Lily's gesture to reach out to and forgive her father to help him move on from her death is going to be rather different than what she did in the series proper. Even so, the other zombie girls will be putting their hands in to help the youngest among their number pull the stunt she's going to be coming up with off. And with ten zombie girls here instead of seven, things should be going a bit more smoothly thanks to the extra help.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Zombie Land Saga, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Saga Stories: A tale of Zombie Land Saga

Chapter nine: A princess sends a message to her giant from afar

A few minutes after their talk at the local park, Sakura and Ayumu had gotten Lily back to the abandoned mansion. In the futon room, the other seven zombie girls sat at their respective futons as Sakura, Ayumu and Lily stood in front of them, with Sakura explaining something to her fellow undead. "…Well, there you girls have it," the long-haired zombie girl remarked as Lily stood between her and Ayumu as she (Sakura) had just finished telling the other girls about what she and Ayumu had just learned over at the park, "Lily here used to be Masao."

The girls all looked at Lily with a mixed variety of expressions. "Geez, Shrimpy," Saki said, a look of sympathy on her face, "Can't believe that you died because some jealous bitch was pissed at you. Sorry you went out in such a manner, kiddo." With a looked of piqued interest on her face, the delinquent zombie girl asked, "Hang on, you said you had a completely different name, right? What was it again?"

Lily, with a dry and unamused look on her face, remarked, "Yeah. It was Masao Go."

A snorted back laugh sounded in the room, making the other girls look around to see where it could have come from. To the confusion of the other girls, the snorted-back laugh had come from Yugiri. "My apologies, girls," the courtesan zombie girl said as she apologized, "But such a masculine name sounds totally out of place to belong to a young lady like Lily-san here."

"Shove it, Yugiri," Saki scolded. Turning to face Lily again, Saki asked, "What about your dad's name? What did you say it was?"

Her dry, unamused look persisting, Lily replied, "It's Takeo Go."

"Ah, now a man with a name like that sounds better," Yugiri remarked, sounding a lot more accepting of what she had just been told.

Sigrid, with an unamused snarling expression on her face, turned to face where Yugiri sat and said, "You're starting to piss me off with your talking, harlot draugr." Raising a fist up, Sigrid half asked half threatened, "You want I should send you back to Helheim?"

"In her defense, those are both pretty manly-sounding names," Saki remarked as she turned to address the half-foreign zombie girl, "Granted, Yugiri is still being kind of a dick, but it's due to seeing things from the lens of the time period she lived in. That being said." Turning back to face the courtesan zombie girl, Saki said, "Yugiri, girl, seriously. We have _got_ to get you more caught up with the times."

Nodding in understanding, Yugiri replied with a hint of regret in her tone, "I understand completely. Apologies if I've caused any undue offence due to my lack of understanding of the culture of modern times."

The other zombie girls looked like they didn't quite know what to make of what they had just learned of Lily; Tae was actually asleep so she didn't hear anything (she probably wouldn't even understand what was going on if she _was_ awake, mind you), Junko looked on with a look of stunned surprise, the look on Hikari's face suggested that she wasn't bothered by what she had just learned, and Ai let out a sigh as she turned to face where Lily stood in front of everyone else with Sakura and Ayumu.

"So…" the Heisei idol zombie girl began, her tone mildly unsure, "…Now what?"

With a reassuring smile, Lily replied, "I'm still the same Lily that you girls have all known since we've all awakened. Always have been and always will be, especially since as a zombie I won't be growing up." Giving a single nod, the child actress zombie girl remarked, "There's no need to worry about anything."

"I guess that's the case, then," Sakura remarked.

Holding up a hand, Ai asked, "Hang on, did Kotaro know about this?" Ai's question made a lot of the zombie girls exchange a few mildly confused looks as they looked around at each other, the point that was just raised by Ai being a rather pertinent one.

…

When the girls all confronted Kotaro in his office room, they found him wearing a pink bathing cap that would be more at home worn by a woman. The eccentric man was also strumming the strings of an acoustic guitar as he sat on a sofa. "…Of course I knew about it," Kotaro said as he played a few notes on his guitar. Turning to look at the girls, Kotaro remarked, "I knew from the get-go that Hikari is inbred."

Most of the zombie girls instantly had shocked looks of surprise on their respective faces as they heard what Kotaro had just told them. "We…" Sakura said, her tone sounding mildly unsure due to what she and the others had just heard, "…Were actually going to ask you if you knew that Lily used to be Masao."

"…Oh," Kotaro replied, sounding just vaguely like his unbreakable façade had slipped just a bit. Quickly regaining his composure, Kotaro said, "Yes, I also knew ahead of time that Lily used to be Masao." Kotaro turned back to face the direction he was facing previously as he resumed his guitar playing. He even stuck his tongue out a bit in a playful, somewhat mocking tone.

Yugiri, with a rather crossed expression, remarked in a firm tone as she crossed her arms over her chest, "We are trying to be serious with you here, Kotaro-san."

"What?!" Kotaro exclaimed suddenly as he shot right up to his and began berating the courtesan zombie girl, "Are you're trying to tell me that you girls have room in Franchouchou for Lily, but Masao isn't allowed?!"

As the eccentric man was trying to scold Yugiri, Lily piped up with a hint of annoyance in her tone, "I'm Lily now! I don't even _know_ a Masao!"

"Right! It's just as she said!" Kotaro said to the other zombie girls as he pointed at Lily, "I'm not familiar with any Masao either! In fact, you nine are all Masao!" Pointing to the door in his office room, the eccentric man said, "Anyway, if you brain-dead brats all have time to ask dumb questions, then you all have time to go to bed! You have a big event tomorrow, and you all need to get some rest for it!"

Getting the cue, the zombie girls all proceeded to file for the door, although Yugiri, Junko and Tae stuck around, the former two because they still want answers and the last of those three because she had no idea what was going on and was actually just standing there mindlessly. This did nothing but irritate Kotaro a bit, mostly because he wanted the girls to go to bed.

…

Sakura, Lily, Saki, Ai, Ayumu, Hikari and Sigrid all stood in the hallway outside of Kotaro's office as the door was open. One by one, the eccentric man quite literally threw Junko, Tae and Yugiri out of his office in that order; Junko landed in a sitting position next to Ai, Tae landed in a face-planting position where her butt stuck up in the air, and Yugiri ended up face-planting into Tae's butt before bouncing off and hitting her back against the wall that Kotaro's office's door was located along.

Once all ten of the zombie girls were in the hallway, Kotaro slammed the door to his office closed, making it clear that he didn't want to be disturbed for the rest of the night. "Well, girls," Sakura said as the girls that were thrown out got themselves up off of the hallway floor, "We might as well go back to bed. There's nothing else we can really do." The others all nodded in agreement with Sakura (aside from Tae for obvious reasons) as they followed her back to the futon room.

* * *

A few minutes later, the zombie girls were all in the futon room. Lily was the only one who was asleep, and the child actress zombie girl looked rather adorable as she snoozed away in her futon. She even had the hood of her sleep outfit up, which further showed that Lily's sleep outfit was a Lily-sized version of the sleep outfit that Ayumu wore, aside from how the green that Lily's had was replaced with lavender on the one her teen counterpart had. As Lily slept, the others looked on, finding the sleeping Lily to be rather cute.

"I've never thought about it until now, but Lily is rather adorable," Junko remarked as she and the others watched Lily sleep.

"It's surprising what you can learn about those you work closely with for a long period of time, you know," Ai added, her tone showing she agreed with her Showa counterpart's thoughts.

Scoffing a bit, Saki said, "Who cares what sort of gear Shrimpy has?" The way that the delinquent zombie girl stated what she said drew some looks of shock from some of her fellow undead, although a few agreed with Saki.

Jerking a thumb at Saki, Sigrid remarked to the others, "Saki here has a point." Crossing her arms over her chest, the half-foreign zombie girl continued, "I fail to see how what we have just learned about the little one should alter our perception and judgment of her. She has proven that she can handle the same business as us, so why should anything else matter?" A look of curious wonder crossed Sigrid's face as she remarked, "Although if the little one hadn't yet chosen her new name, I would have done so for her. Astrid would have been a rather good choice for the little one, now that I think about it."

"We're all dead, so there's still that tying us together," Saki remarked, her tone showing that the idea of continuing to remain being bothered by what was learned of Lily wasn't something that sat well with her.

"There's still a fair bit about being undead that we still don't know about," Hikari pointed out, "All that we got right now is that we all bear scars or other similar markings that give others a clue as to how we originally died, and that as zombies we won't age." With her fellow undead all looking at her, the gamer zombie girl remarked, "Although one has to admit that the idea of not aging sounds rather appealing. Kind of a nice thought really."

The other zombie girls, aside from Tae who had clocked out by that point, all resumed watching on as Lily slept, finding her sleeping like that to be adorable and happy for her that she won't be changing, something that the child actress zombie girl really liked.

* * *

Takeo was sitting in his living room at his house alone, looking at the house memorial shrine that had been set up. Next to the framed photo of a blue-haired woman that was obviously his wife and Lily's mom was a framed photo of Lily herself. The large man continued to look at the setup as his mind drifted back to past memories that, in light of what happened to his late child, now filled his heart with regret.

…

Takeo recalled one time how he was excited over some very high ratings Lily had gotten while the television in the living room was showing an interview where the lady who was hosting had Lily on as the guest of honor. Next to Takeo on the sofa as that interview on TV played was Lily, who was actually asleep on the sofa, although she was stirred from her light slumber by her father's excited talking about how her career was shooting off like a rocket.

The large man recalled that Lily asked if the two of them could go somewhere together, but he was too caught up in trying to further boost his child's selling power to make her an even bigger star. He absentmindedly agreed to take her to a park, but he was so focused on her career that he more or less didn't even realize what Lily was asking him for; he only heard enough to tell Lily that they could go to the whatever after they finished shooting her next big scene for what she was doing at the time.

Takeo's mind then went to a memory that pained his heart every time it crossed his mind; seeing Lily's dead body lying on the table in the operating room. The doctor, accompanied by a nurse, standing behind the large man felt sympathy for the grieving father. "She had suffered a total of thirty-seven stab wounds to her chest," the doctor explained in a tone showing that he was at a loss on what to tell Takeo, "At least five of which pierced her heart. There was simply just no saving her, I'm afraid." Gesturing to where Lily's remains laid on the table, the doctor went on, "That woman who killed her was arrested and is going to be tried, if that's any consolation."

It was _not_ any consolation to the grieving Takeo, however. The large man remembered that, the night he got back from the hospital where the doctor told him that Lily couldn't be saved, he sat somberly on the sofa as something that Lily starred in played on the TV. As he watched the show, Takeo thought he heard his late child call out to him. He turned to look next to him on the sofa but, as could be predicted, there was no Lily.

Takeo began to cry out of sadness, shaking as he sobbed. "This…this just can't be…" Takeo muttered to himself as the tears flowed freely, sad that his child was no longer with him, no longer with the world. Overcome by the sheer grief, Takeo let out a roar as he got up, gripped the TV on both sides and yanked it up and out, throwing it with a smash against the wall, leaving a dent in said wall as the ruined remains of the now unfunctioning TV just sat on the floor. It was a fairly expensive TV, but Takeo didn't care. There was no way that he could find it in himself to enjoy TV anymore.

Not with his child gone.

…

Takeo came out of his recollection of memories as he returned to the reality that he now lived in. He continued to look at the framed photos of his late wife, his late daughter. The large man sighed to himself as he continued to look at the in-house memorial that was the only place where he could see his lost loved ones.

"…You have got to get a hold of yourself," Takeo said bitterly to himself, "There's no way that girl could be Masao. There's just no way that she could be." Takeo shed a few tears as he forced himself to come to terms with the obvious, his crying having no sound. The large man continued to sit in front of that shrine for a little while longer, wishing that there was no need for it at all.

* * *

The next day at another venue, the girls of Franchouchou were autographing photos of themselves for fans of 'Saga Stories' that came by. They were also giving away some 'Saga Stories' t-shirts, ranging in size from small to 3XL; a previous event similar to the one that the girls were doing had just small to large t-shirts which only really worked for most of the slimmer women that came, and many had asked for larger sizes anyway. Remembering that, Kotaro had added XL, 2XL and 3XL sized t-shirts to the lineup.

As Sakura finished autographing a photo of herself that she handed to a fan, she, along with Saki and Junko, looked over when they saw that Takeo was standing in front of the spot along the table that Lily was seated at. Despite what happened the last time she saw him at an event for the show, the child actress zombie girl was not worried about her dad. As a matter of fact, she smiled as she looked up at him.

"Hi again," Lily greeted the large man, "Sorry about how you were frozen last time. I'm pretty sure that high school boy that number one got to help out didn't really mean to do any harm."

Nodding once in acknowledgement, Takeo replied, "It's quite alright. It was completely my fault anyway." Gesturing to the selection of t-shirt, Takeo asked, "Well anyway, can I please get one of these t-shirts?"

Lily nodded once and said, "Sure, but just so you know, we only go up to 3XL." With a mildly unsure look on her face, Lily explained as she gestured to her dad, "I'm pretty sure that even the biggest size that we have available at the moment won't quite be enough, since you wear a size 5XL and all."

"Heh," Takeo remarked, not a shred of sounding offended in his tone. If anything, the large man sounded a bit amused. "Now how did you know what size I wear?" Takeo asked the girl that sat in front of him, unaware that said girl truly was his late child.

Thinking quickly, the child actress zombie girl said, "A lucky guess, I suppose."

"I see," Takeo remarked, "Well anyway, can I get the smallest size you have, then?" Seeing the confused look on Lily's face, the large man explained, "You see, I used to have a kid around your age. I…wasn't exactly an exemplary model of what a father should be, given that I was too caught up in work to focus on what really mattered." The large man clenched his hands into fists for a bit before relaxing them. "…I'm sure your own father has to be a nice man, though," Takeo said, unaware that he was giving himself (what he would see as) an undue complement.

Lily, having to play along because of the circumstances that she found herself in, said, "My father is the sweetest, kindest man ever. He's really great!" Lily then handed Takeo a tube that contained the t-shirt that he asked for.

"Thanks again," the large man said, "Also sorry again about frightening you before. I won't be a bother to you again. I just came here to apologize." He gave the child actress zombie girl a single nod of acknowledgement before he turned to walk away, saying, "Goodbye." Lily looked on as she watched her father walk away, a look of longing on her face. Lily had no idea what to do at that moment, but she was brought out of her thoughts when Sakura came over to her.

"Are you going to be okay, Lily?" the long-haired zombie girl asked, having a strong feeling that Lily's encounter with her father just now must have done something to shake her up at least a bit.

Turning to face Sakura, Lily replied somewhat hastily, "Oh yeah, totally! Why wouldn't I be alright?" Lily then turned to do a count on the t-shirts that she still had in front of her to give out to fans. Sakura knew that Lily was wanting to avoid the subject, but that still didn't change how there had to be some manner of discussion about the matter. Sakura decided that, later when she and the others all got back to the abandoned mansion, they had to throw a game plan together to help Lily do something for her dad.

* * *

Back at the abandoned mansion, Lily was sitting along in one of the rooms when she heard the one door open. Turning to look, Lily saw Sakura walk into the room to join her. "I take it that the scripts for the next episode that we have to shoot are ready for us to go over?" Lily asked.

"No, not quite yet," Sakura answered as she walked over to join Lily on the sofa that the child actress zombie girl was sitting on. "Are you sure you're doing okay?" Sakura asked, "We can still give you some more time to yourself if you feel that you need it."

Lily let out a resigned sigh as she looked up at Sakura. "…You know," Lily began to remark, "I think that I would have been better off if I had no memories of my life before I awakened as a zombie, sort of like you."

Letting out a chuckle, Sakura said, "No way. It sucks that I don't remember anything about my life before I awakened as a zombie. Why else do you and the others think I've taken to writing about everything I've done and seen ever since I awakened in that journal that I keep?" Giving a gentle shake of her head, Sakura continued, "It's great that you remember your dad. You would not be able to deal with your feelings if you didn't remember him."

"My papa…" Lily said, a hint of somberness in her tone as she gripped the hem of her skirt, "…I've been dead for such a long time, but he's never forgotten about me. And I still…I still…" Unable to hold her feelings in anymore, Lily burst into tears as she flung herself into Sakura's arms and proceeded to soak Sakura's shirt with her tears. The long-haired zombie girl was not going to hold this against Lily; on the contrary, Sakura allowed Lily to cry as much as she felt that she had to. The two of them simply sat there on that sofa, Sakura comforting Lily as the younger undead continued to cry.

* * *

After Lily had cried her eyes out and had that purge of her emotions, she went with Sakura to go talk to the other zombie girls about what to do. "I can't help but think that there might be others out there who were busted up by the rest of us kicking it," Saki remarked, "I mean, Shrimpy here can't be the only one among the ten of us who had loved ones. If not any family, than at least a few close friends, you know?"

Sakura nodded in agreement with the delinquent zombie girl, although she couldn't quite shake the feeling that she (Sakura) herself didn't exactly apply to that. Even though she could not for the (un)life of her remember anything of her past prior to awakening as a zombie, Sakura got the feeling that there wasn't exactly a whole lot of people in her prior life that she was fond enough to miss now that she was out of their life, and them out of hers. This lack of being able to recall memories of her past life as a human was all the more reason she's taken to writing everything she experiences down in her journal.

However…vague trickles of one memory managed to work its way through the undeath-induced fog blocking of the rest of Sakura's memories. A memory of a woman in her early fifties; this woman wore a long-sleeved white buttoned blouse with a pastel orange ascot around her neck, a pair of khaki pants that ended about halfway down her shins, a pair of black slip-on shoes, and a beret hat on her head. The woman, who sat in a director's chair and held a megaphone in her right hand, had long, platinum-blonde hair worn straight, and she was admittedly rather on the well-fed side of things. Sakura did not know who this woman was, but seeing her pop up in her memories brought some measure of comfort to the long-haired zombie girl, as if this woman was someone important to her, someone who treated her kindly, like a mom to her favorite daughter.

Ai, noticing that Sakura was deep in thought, looked over and asked, "Are you okay, Sakura?"

"Oh, I'm fine!" Sakura replied somewhat hastily, a bit surprised due to being brought out of her thoughts so suddenly.

"Look, girls," Saki began, "We need to figure out something to do here." Pounding a fist into her hand, Saki continued, "We have to send that big guy a message!"

Lily, with a troubled look on her face, remarked, "But what _can_ we do? I mean, we're zombies now. It's not like we can just go to papa straight up so I can tell him something."

Sakura placed her hand on Lily's left shoulder, a comforting gesture meant to reassure the child actress zombie girl. "Don't worry, Lily," Sakura said, "I'm sure we'll think of something that we can do. All we have to do is put our heads together and brainstorm a bit until we come up with an idea that would work."

Lily nodded once in acknowledgement to Sakura, thankful that the older zombie girl had her back on this one. As the ten girls of Franchouchou began to think about what they can do so that Lily can send a special kind of message that only her living father would get and understand, Junko clapped her hands together and said, "By Jove, I think I've got it!"

"Who is this Jove fellow of which you speak, white-haired draugr?" Sigrid asked as she turned to face the Showa idol zombie girl.

Gently shaking her head, Junko explained, "There is no Jove person, I was using a figure of speech to let you guys know that I've come up with an idea that could work. An idea that we can only do since we're Franchouchou."

"Well either way, we should run it by Kotaro first," Ai pointed out, "He'd probably get mad if we acted without his knowing." Junko and a few of the other zombie girls nodded in agreement before all ten of them got up and decided to seek Kotaro out.

…

As it turned out, Kotaro was very much on board with the plan that Junko had come up with. With the okay from the eccentric man to proceed, the girls all went about getting everything for Junko's plan to help Lily reach out to her father ready. They worked out a script for something, Kotaro even pitched in by trying to write up some piano music, and the girls even worked out some acting for a scene that they were going to do.

Through it all, Lily never lost her smile, a smile that showed that she was very much looking forward to what she and her fellow undead were going to do.

* * *

Sometime a few days after the girls all started prepping to help Lily with the thing, Takeo and his co-workers were at their office building when they were looking at some copies of a flyer that had been passed out around the Saga prefecture. It was advertising a live performance of a scene set in the setting for the 'Saga Stories' TV series that Franchouchou was going to throw on stage in a nearby mall. The performance was set to be held later that day, November 15th, 2019.

"Hey, that came in the mail earlier," the wild-haired man said as he saw Takeo hold and look at one of the copies of the flyer, "I would go, but I just bought a new video game that I'm eager to play the hell out of, so I'm going to have to skip going to the performance. It's a shame, but I've been dying to play the game I got ever since it was announced in February."

The wild-haired man turned around and walked back to his desk, leaving Takeo be. The large man continued to look at the copy of the flyer that he held, a look of consideration on his face as he thought about what to do.

…

Later that day over at the mall, a large crowd of people, a good number of which were holding shopping bags from a video game store, were gathered in front of a stage in the mall, on which a living room scene had been set up. Sakura, Lily and Ayumu were gearing up to throw on an act, but lily was looking around, a mild look of worry on her face as she was seemingly hoping that a certain someone would show up.

"Hey Sakura," Ayumu whispered to the long-haired zombie girl, "The show is almost about to start, but I don't think that Lily's dad is here yet."

Sakura shared the teen actress zombie girl's worries, understanding that there might be a chance that all of the effort they put in to help Lily send a message to her father may end up being moot, even though they would still have some success with entertaining the crowd that had gathered here before them. Lily seemed to realize this as well, and she had a somewhat downcast look on her face, a good sign that she was a bit disappointed.

…However, Lily perked up when she heard the stomping of mighty feet. Looking over in the appropriate direction, the child actress zombie girl saw her father come running up. Takeo held a somewhat crumpled copy of the flyer that was passed out around Saga prefecture. When the large man had reached the crowd that came to watch the live performance, he panted a bit out of exhaustion, showing that he had run a great distance to get her.

Lily, upon seeing her dad, smiled a bit and discreetly pointed out her father's arrival to Sakura and Ayumu. Seeing the large man for themselves, Sakura and Ayumu both nodded before Sakura held up a megaphone to call out to the gathered audience. "Okay everyone!" the long-haired zombie girl called out, "We're ready to begin the performance of a scene in 'Saga Stories' where number six's character and number seven's character visits my character with a really special surprise!" The audience clapped and cheered as the three girls that were on stage proceeded to get into position for the act; this saw Lily and Ayumu open a front door in the set and walk through it, waiting behind a wall as Sakura sat down in an armchair and picked up a book that her character was reading.

The scene began as Sakura, while in character, hummed happily to herself as she read her book. A few seconds after her humming started, one of the two girls waiting behind the wall that the front door was located long knocked on the door, getting Sakura's attention. "Now who could that be?" Sakura said, using something of a (practiced) Akita accent as she got up and walked over to the door to answer it. Sakura stepped to the side as Lily and Ayumu walked in, each of them carrying one end of a flat screen TV.

"Ta-da!" Ayumu said as she and Lily sat the TV down, "When we were here last time and saw that you didn't own a TV, we thought that it would nice if we got you this. That way, you won't have to miss any of your favorite shows!"

"Well wowee!" Sakura said in amazement as she saw the TV that Lily and Ayumu had brought into her house, "This looks like one of them fancy plasma TVs that I heard about back before I moved out here to Saga from my family's home back in Akita!"

Lily nodded in the affirmative before saying, "I can't begin to tell you how awesome having a TV is. One of my favorite things to do is to watch TV with the people that I love, laughing and crying along with them as we enjoy the highs and lows of all of our favorite programs. It really helped to bring my family together, you know." Lily paused as she closed her eyes, letting out a mildly resigned sigh. "My family wasn't all that big really, just me and my dad," Lily said as a single tear ran down the right side of her face, "But the time that we spent together watching TV was some of the best time that I have ever had, because I was spending it with my dad."

The audience that had gathered were touched by Lily's emotional performance, with some of them even shedding a few tears themselves. As for Takeo himself, he couldn't quite put his tongue on it, but he felt that this performance was somehow trying to talk to him directly, to send him a message, a message that to him sounded like it was coming from his late child, like she was trying to tell him something.

"_Please stop hurting_, _papa_. _I love you_."

* * *

The following day, the guys working at the office building were simply going through the workday. "Hey Yamamoto, what are you having for lunch?" the wild-haired man said as he sat a handheld game system to the side before picking up a phone.

"Sicilian rice," Yamamoto replied.

With a mildly surprised scoff, the while-haired man said, "Again? Man, you never change." The wild-haired man was about to dial up a number on the phone, but he stopped short when he and Yamamoto both noticed Takeo sit down at the same table that Yamamoto was sitting at.

"Hey, can you get some chicken for me?" Takeo asked.

"You…" the wild-haired man said, looking mildly surprised, "…You're having lunch here?"

Takeo nodded once in the affirmative, drawing surprised looks from some of his co-workers before he and Yamamoto both turned to look at the TV that was set up in the room, which was playing a weather report before cutting to commercial break. Surprisingly, the first commercial that played was the Drive-In Tori commercial that the Franchouchou girls had shot. "Man, those girls are pretty good," Yamamoto remarked, "They not only have a successful show, but they've done a number of commercial shots as well."

Takeo simply nodded in agreement before he turned his attention back to the TV, watching the commercial play out; it eventually came to a part where Lily, with a big, closed-eyed smile, jumped up a bit as she threw her arms into the air. Takeo thought that he'd never watch any manner of television again, not since the circumstances that resulted in him losing his daughter, the only family that he had left.

But now…now the large man felt at ease. He felt okay with moving on.

* * *

Ginei Morioka and his friend Tsukune were sitting in a classroom at Azu-Daioh High alone together, a few sheets of paper on the table that they sat at. Some other material that was also on the table at the time suggested that the boys belonged to their school's newspaper club. There was also…something else, something about Tsukune, which was clearly different from before; his hair was now hair a purplish-silver color, and his eyes were now a bluish-purple color. He also seemed to be radiating a sort of chilling air about him.

"You've got to admit, dude," Ginei remarked to Tsukune, "Given the pain spasms that you had occasionally, plus what would have happened if you didn't have this change, that things for you are looking pretty damn good."

Nodding once in agreement, Tsukune remarked, "My cousin is pretty happy since I no longer use any hot water when I take a shower." Tsukune picked up a hand mirror that was laying on the table and looked at himself in it. Letting out a sigh, Tsukune continued, "But then again, I'm not really good with a lot of heat anymore." As the two boys talked, they heard the door leading into the classroom open from behind them.

When they turned, Ginei and Tsukune saw a boy walk into the classroom; this boy was about Tsukune's height, and he was a fair-skinned fellow with jet black hair long enough to reach halfway down his shoulder blades. He wore a long-sleeved shirt under a baggy t-shirt that resembled the German flag, a pair of black tripp pants with red threading, and a pair of black boots (either work or military grade) that had red laces. This boy's eyes were a piercing shade of red. When the boy walked into the classroom, both Ginei and Tsukune turned to face him.

"Word up with thee, Draco?" Ginei greeted with a wave of his hand.

"I just came back from the investigating that you sent me on," the boy, revealed to be named Draco, replied to Ginei with a strong hint of German in his accent. The words that Draco spoke to Ginei suggested that Ginei maintained some high position in the hierarchy of his friends. Letting out a sigh, Draco remarked, "Those famous girls that you took photos of that you sold to Sagazine Today…you were right about them."

Both Ginei and Tsukune leaned back in the chairs that they respectively sat in, with Ginei giving a 'humph' before saying, "So those girls _do_ belong to one of the races of undead-type monsters."

Nodding once in confirmation, Draco explained, "Not only that, but I was able to confirm that all ten of them are standard zombies."

Tsukune arched an eyebrow as he and Ginei looked at their German friend. "…And how were you able to tell without getting caught?" Tsukune asked, a wry look on his face.

Tapping the right side of his nose, Draco replied, "My people have bar none the strongest sense of smell out of all of the monster races. I could tell that all of the Franchouchou girls were all standard zombies simply by standing at a safe distance away, aiming my nose at them, and take a couple of careful, attentive sniffs of the air coming from them."

"Well it's a good thing that actual zombies are nothing like what human pop culture tends to portray them as," Ginei remarked. Focusing on both Tsukune and Draco as a whole, Ginei went on, "The humans who were on the field trip with us to the ski resort that Mizore's folks own all agreed to keep the fact that we from Yokai Academy are all monsters a secret. The last thing that monsters like us need is for word of the truth about us to get out, because no doubt there will be some humans who will do what humans in monster movies do."

Scoffing to the side, Draco remarked as he crossed his arms over his chest, "I would like to see a human try to vanquish me. I'll incinerate them alive."

"Let's just try to put all of that stuff to the side for the time being, guys," Tsukune suggested, sounding like he was hoping to change the subject. Gesturing to his friends, Tsukune said, "Well regardless of the fact that those Franchouchou girls are all zombies, they're still pretty damn good actresses. 'Saga Stories' actually became both my mom's and my cousin's favorite show. And given how accepting they are of the fact that I became a Snow Fairy, I'm pretty damn sure that they won't flip if informed that their favorite actresses are all zombies. Especially if we take the time to explain a few things to them."

Ginei and Draco both nodded in agreement with their friend. With nothing else keeping them there, the three boys took their leave from Azu-Daioh High.

END, SAGA STORIES CHAPTER NINE

Author's notes:

With this, I have concluded Lily's character arc, which I'm a little surprised even _became_ an arc rather than just stay as a single chapter. But then again, I wanted to do right by Lily since she's one of my favorites among the main seven zombie girls. I also took some effort to further build up the world that is occupied by more than just 'Saga Stories', but the big payoff that I have in mind for all of that still won't be for a while yet. Well anyway, next time will be seeing a certain delinquent zombie girl have her time in the spotlight, something that was hinted at as early as the fourth chapter.

I would have done Saki's time this chapter, but Lily's time ended up spilling over a bit. Hey, this is just as well, as I was planning to condense something else that occurs later on down the line either way. Regardless, I feel that I'll be able to maintain the same general pace that a number of folks may be familiar with. Also, I still can't wait for season two to come out; maybe we'll get to see Tae awaken finally. Sorry if this chapter was a little bit on the short side compared to what has since become the standard for this story, btw.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Zombie Land Saga, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Saga Stories: A tale of Zombie Land Saga

Chapter ten: What is this 'normal' of which you speak?

(FLASHBACK)

(DATE: JULY 31ST, 1997)

Saki Nikaido, the first kamikaze squad leader of the all-girls delinquent gang Dorami, was sitting on some steps outside someplace with Reiko Kirishima, the boss of Dorami and a close friends of Saki's. "Hoo boy, that fight we watched last night where Einherjar's boss throttled that punk bitch from Korosuke sure was a riot," Saki said as she let out a cheer, pumping a fist into the air. Turning to face Reiko, the blonde ponytailed girl said, "What do you think?"

Reiko turned to face Saki, giving her an amused smirk. "…I think that I'm glad that Dorami was saved some trouble," the boss of Dorami replied, "Not that I wouldn't have minded having to be the one to show that Korosuke girl her place, mind you. But seriously." Turning to face forward, Reiko remarked, "Those girls in Korosuke just don't know when to quit, do they? They seriously don't want us taking over Kyushu, do they?"

"Bah," Saki said as she stood up, "I say that we take out right now. Save us some trouble in the long run."

Reiko turned back to regard her close friend, a look of mild amusement on her face. "Geez, girl, that crazy streak of your will get you killed one day if you don't reel it in," the purple-haired girl said, some warning in her tone but still otherwise sounding amused overall.

"No way am I ever going to die," Saki replied, sounding as if she had all the confidence in the world while reaching into her coat pocket to pull something out, "Neither is this little guy that I got right here." Saki pulled something out and showed it to Reiko, revealing her treasure to be a Tamagotchi. The blonde delinquent could not help but let out a little amused chuckle as she showed the small digital pet to Reiko. Reiko, for her part, merely returned an amused, albeit very mildly confused, smile before she stood up from where she sat.

"Come on Saki, let's bounce," Reiko remarked, "I'm starving. Let's go grab something to eat."

Saki nodded in agreement as she followed her boss and close friend. "Man, I wish that Drive-In Tori was open this early," Saki remarked.

"We had Drive-In Tori last night," Reiko pointed out, "Geez, Saki. You eat anymore chicken and you'll turn into a chicken." As the two delinquent girls walked and talked as they playfully teased one another, they walked through a field littered with the knocked out girls of a group of Korosuke members, a telltale sign that Saki and Reiko had worked up quite an appetite before relaxing for a bit.

The two girls got on their respective motorcycles, with Saki even saying, "Yo Reiko, last one to the usual convenience store we swing by is a rotten egg!"

Reiko only let out a smirk as she turned to face Saki. "Geez, you never do seem to learn, do you?" Reiko said more than asked, "You do know that you've never beaten me in a race, right? Speed is my middle name."

Jerking a thumb at herself, Saki replied, "And guts is my middle name!" Reiko only let out a chuckle as she and Saki revved up their respective rides before they raced off, leaving whatever and whoever behind them in the dust.

(FLASHBACK OVER)

Saki woke with something of a start from her futon in the futon room at the abandoned mansion in Saga, where she and the rest of the girls of Franchouchou live. …If you can say that they 'live there', given the fact that all ten of them are zombies. The delinquent zombie girl looked around the room and saw that, aside from the unaccounted for Hikari, she was the only one who was currently awake, given that the eight zombie girls that were accounted for were all fast asleep in their respective futons.

Sakura was laying on her left side in her futon, and as such Saki, who was located close to her, could see the long-haired zombie girl's face. Lily, at some point, ended up rolling right up next to Ayumu, and the two of them ended up cuddled next to each other, unaware that it even took place. Tae slept flat on her back with her arms and legs in the air a bit, like a dog laying on its back as its legs twitched slightly in its sleep. Ai and Junko were asleep in their respective futons, with the way Junko laid combined with the sleep outfit that the Showa idol zombie girl wore reminding Saki of someone's grandma.

Yugiri was fast asleep herself, looking relatively neat in her futon. And Sigrid laid in the least neat fashion out of all the zombie girls aside from Saki herself; the half-foreign zombie girl's right leg and left arm stuck out from under the blanket, which was covering Sigrid's form haphazardly and unevenly. Sigrid also snored away, sounding far and away from what many would suspect a popular actress to snore like, if said actress snored while asleep at all.

"…That was one weird dream," the delinquent zombie girl muttered to herself as she slowly got out from her futon. Careful so as to not disturb her fellow undead, Saki made her way out of the futon room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen area, where she found Hikari sitting at the counter table, a mug of coffee and a toasted plain bagel off to the side as the gamer zombie girl played on a handheld game system.

Having sensed/heard someone enter the kitchen area, Hikari looked over and saw Saki. "…Well look who decided to join us in the waking world," Hikari remarked, a hint of amusement in her tone as she watched Saki make her way over to the fridge, "How did you sleep, Saki?"

"I had a weird dream that wasn't so much a dream as it was a memory from my past," Saki replied as she found a Styrofoam take out container from Drive-In Tori, deciding to just eat that for breakfast. As she sat her procured foot at one of the places at the counter table before heading over to the coffee pot to get a mug of coffee, Saki continued, "I don't suppose you know what I'm talking about, do you Hikari?"

With a shrug, Hikari replied, "Actually, I do as a matter of fact. I woke up about an hour ago from a rather scary dream that was a memory from my own past." After taking a sip from her own mug of coffee, the gamer zombie girl continued, "The reason why I say it was scary is due to the fact that it replayed the last moments of my life, right up to the point where I suffered that asthma attack that killed me."

"Oh, so that's how you died?" Saki asked, a hint of sympathy in her mildly curious tone as she sat down across from Hikari after having gotten herself a mug of coffee, "You had a fatal asthma attack?" After Hikari nodded once in the affirmative while giving of a mostly indifferent air, the delinquent zombie girl remarked, "Well look on the bright side, Hikari. You're a zombie now, so you don't really have to worry about stuff like asthma anymore."

Hikari nodded once in agreement without taking her eyes off of her handheld game system. "I can also pull off all-night gaming sessions without any issue," Hikari added, "Well, no issue to myself, at least. I'm pretty sure I might wake one of you other girls up at some point."

Saki nodded once to show that she understood to some degree; Saki herself had something of a fondness for video games, what with her love of Tamagotchi and how she liked to frequent arcades back when she was still alive. But Saki would readily admit that Hikari would run circles around her if they went head to head in a fighting game or something similar; Saki supposed that what Kotaro said about Hikari being a 'legendary gamer girl' was not without merit.

Saki shook those thoughts out of her mind, however, as she had something that she wanted to ask. "So Hikari," Saki began, "Do you remember what Shades has us slated to do today?"

"I'm pretty sure that he said we're supposed to join a group dance at a local park later this morning," the gamer zombie girl replied, "We're going to be joining a group made primarily of elderly people, since Kotaro said that a large percentage of Saga's population is composed of the elderly, and if we work with them we should, in theory at least, appeal to a fairly large chunk of Saga's population, thus upping the popularity of 'Saga Stories'."

"Ah yeah, now I remember," Saki remarked, a hint of annoyance in her tone, "I still can't believe that Shades had set us up for it…"

(FLASHBACK)

(DATE: DAY BEFORE CURRENT DAY)

The ten zombie girls were all seated in the basement room as Kotaro stood in front of a chalkboard, on which a pie chart was drawn; a small blue sliver was labeled 'impressionable youth' while the rest of the chart was composed of a big fat red chunk labeled 'old farts'. The eccentric man pulled out an extendable pointing stick, stretched it then used it to point at the pie chart on the board.

As he pointed at the pie chart that he drew on the chalkboard, Kotaro said to the girls, "As you girls can all can see from this very informative and respectful chart, the elderly make up the lion's share of the population here in Saga." Leaning forward towards the girls as he held himself up by putting his hands on the small table between him and the girls, Kotaro continued, "So if 'Saga Stories' is to win the hearts of all of these oldie-goldies, then there is only one thing that you can do." Kotaro then pulled out a sign that said 'kashima' and showed it to the girls.

"You ten are all going to learn the epic awesomeness that is…" the eccentric man said as he took in a breath for dramatic effect, "…KASHIMA DANCE!"

(FLASHBACK OVER)

Saki let out a resigned sigh as she said, "Well, I guess we're stuck going to have to dance with a bunch of old geezers." Giving off an indifferent shrug, the delinquent zombie girl said, "Well, I guess that it could be worse."

"I doubt that there will be good Wi-Fi strength at the park," Hikari remarked, a slight hint of annoyance in her tone before she took a bite out of her bagel.

* * *

Later at the park, the ten girls of Franchouchou stood as a group in front of a group of the elderly. "Ehh?" an old man said as he held a hand to his ear, "What did you say again?"

"For the last time, those young girls over there want to join us for the kashima dance, you old coot!" another old man said somewhat loudly at the first, "Clean your ears out, for crying out loud already!"

As the ten zombie girls, all of them looking human due to either monster glamour/makeup on Tae, looked at the elderly, Saki remarked with a dumbfounded look of unamusement on her face, "You cannot be serious about this."

"Ehh, Kotaro-san sounded pretty serious about it when he told us about it yesterday," Sakura remarked. Gently shaking her head, the long-haired zombie girl said, "Although now that I think about it, I believe that joining some nice old people in a group activity sound pretty nice, not to mention it sounds like a fun way to spend the morning."

Junko nodded in agreement with Sakura. "There's also the fact that seniors tend to follow certain shows occasionally," Junko pointed out, "If we can get 'Saga Stories' to be one of those shows, then we'll get a very nice bump in viewership."

The first older man slowly got up as he said, "Well, we might as well get started on this." He let out a breath, keeping his eyes closed and looking calm. Suddenly, the first old man opened his eyes, wide and excited. He pumped a fist into the air as he exclaimed, "Let's get this show on the road, already!"

One of the elderly ladies in the group pressed a button on a portable radio, playing some music that was recorded on a cassette. The rest of the elderly people, all already in position, began to start performing the kashima dance, going through the motions with such unity and rhythm that the zombie girls were all surprised. "Wow!" Lily exclaimed, "You guys look like you've been doing this for years, it looks so good!"

"Hot damn!" Saki remarked, sounding similarly as impressed as the child actress zombie girl, "Look at you guys go!"

The first old man, with a somewhat smug look of self-amusement on his face, gestured for the girls to come over with the 'bring it on' hand wave gesture that martial artists use to challenge one another occasionally. "Well come on, girls," the first old man said, "Get on in here. The rest of the dance won't do itself, you know."

"Hang on," Sakura said with a look of surprise on her face, "We're supposed to have the whole dance all down already?"

"Umm, can we even keep up with them?" Junko asked, looking mildly unsure about her and her fellow undead being able to keep up with the living elderly.

Ai, with a look of amusement on her face, remarked as she walked forward, "Well there's only one way that we can find that out." It was the Heisei idol zombie girl that led the rest of the girls over to the group of dancing old people. Once they all got into place, the girls of Franchouchou proceeded to join the dancing elderly. It took them a few moments, but soon enough all ten of the zombie girls got into the rhythm and danced alongside the old people.

However, unbeknownst to both the zombie girls and the living elderly, they were being watched by a middle school girl with long, light brown hair that had two buns from which tails of hair came from. This girl wore a long red coat over a gray blouse, a black tie, a black long skirt, a pair of black shoes and black socks that were long enough to disappear up into the skirt. The look on the face of the middle school girl was all the sign that was needed to let those who would have seen know that she was not amused by seeing the Franchouchou girls dance in the park with the old people.

The middle school girl scoffed, a sign of her annoyance.

* * *

Sometime shortly after the kashima dance, Lily, Tae and Ayumu were still at the park while the rest of the girls were at a nearby convenience store. "Wow, that was even more exhausting than some of our scene run-throughs for the show," Lily remarked after she got a drink from the water fountain in the park. As soon as Lily was done, Tae put her mouth right over the spout for the fountain and began to drink from the fountain, greedily and mindlessly.

As the three zombie girls were at the water fountain, Sakura came dashing over. "Hey, you three!" Sakura called out as she made her way over, making Lily and Ayumu both turn to look but not Tae who was still distracted, "We're all waiting for you!"

"Okay!" Lily called back out as she waved at the long-haired zombie girls. Tae finally looked over and waved, but she fell over backwards as she gushed out a lot of water from her mouth, laying on the ground as she spewed water like a fancy fountain located outside of a mall. Right as Lily and Ayumu both turned to look at Tae and proceed to help her, they and Sakura were all distracted when they heard some motors rev up nearby.

Looking over, the three zombie girls (Tae was still on the ground spewing water) saw three delinquent-looking girls that looked like they went to one of the local middle schools. There was the girl with the long brown hair (who the girls haven't seen up until now), a girl with chin length brown hair of a darker shade than what the long-haired girl had, and a girl with black hair in twin pigtails that rested over her shoulders; also the third girl wore glasses. The three delinquent-looking girls began to walk over in a slow strut meant to intimidate. Both Lily and Ayumu were worried, but Lily stopped short when she saw the cycles that the three delinquent-looking girls had; the cycles were actually pink supped up scooters.

"…How lame," the child actress zombie girl muttered to herself, "You cannot be serious."

Pointing an accusing finger right at Sakura, the long-haired delinquent girl snapped somewhat loudly, "The hell gives you the right to come here and do that stupid dance with those stupid old people, huh?!" The angry snapping and intimidation that the long-haired delinquent girl was giving off scared Sakura, frightened Lily and made Ayumu cower in a crouching position while covering her ears with her hands.

"Umm…" Sakura said, "…This is a…public park? Isn't everyone allowed to use it?"

"What middle school do you losers go to, huh?!" the long-haired delinquent girl demanded loudly, ignoring Sakura's comment completely. When the long-haired delinquent girl raised her voice that time, Ayumu let out a panicked cry of distress. The long-haired delinquent girl turned to face Ayumu, who Lily stood in front of. "The hell is her problem?!" demanded the long-haired delinquent girl as she pointed to the cowering teen actress zombie girl.

Lily, with a very angry looking expression, scolded, "Hey, you leave Big Sis alone! She has autism and you being very loud is making her feel really distressed!" Crossing her arms over her chest, Lily continued, "Also, I'm still an elementary schooler!"

The three delinquent girls looked at Lily and Ayumu with shocked looks of surprise. "Picking on an elementary schooler doesn't sound all that cool," the delinquent girl with chin length brown hair whispered to the long-haired delinquent girl, "And picking on a girl that's autistic sounds arguably less cool than that."

"I agree," the glasses-wearing delinquent girl with black hair whispered in agreement.

The long-haired delinquent girl nodded once in agreement with her fellows before gesturing to Lily and Ayumu. "You two are excused," the long-haired delinquent girl remarked before turning her attention in full right back to Sakura. "You, however!" the long-haired delinquent girl snapped at Sakura, taking care to not be too loud, "The hell gives you the right to make a big racket in our park?!"

"I, umm…" Sakura said as she began to panic, "Doesn't this park belong to everyone?"

"Excuse me?" the long-haired delinquent girl demanded, unaware of the fact that Tae was now standing behind her. The unawakened zombie girl must have thought that the hair buns that the long-haired delinquent girl wore were actual food buns, because she bit down on one, prompting the long-haired delinquent girl to freak. Her fellows look on with stunned looks as Sakura looked on with a mildly worried look.

Lily, on the other hand, laughed a bit as she watched Tae annoy the long-haired delinquent girl. "Well alright, Tae!" the child actress zombie girl cheered, "Way to show that jerk who's boss!" Sakura, for her part, ran up and managed to pry Tae off of her biting down on the long-haired delinquent girl's hair bun. Once she was free, the long-haired delinquent girl backed up over to where her two fellows waited.

Looking right at Sakura and Tae, the long-haired delinquent girl snapped, "The hell is that black-haired bitch's problem?!"

Sakura would have answered, but before she could get a word out Saki came running over. "Oi, Egghead!" the delinquent zombie girl said, "The hell is the hold up? If we take any longer to get going, I'm going to kick your ass!" Right when Saki reached Sakura and the other undead girls, the long-haired delinquent girl gave her a menacing look.

"And just who the hell are you supposed to be?" the long-haired delinquent girl demanded of Saki while pointing to Sakura and Tae, "You want I should kick your ass when I'm done dealing with these two bitches here?!"

Saki just looked at the long-haired delinquent girl with a mildly surprised look that was more curious than anything else. Then, Saki suddenly gave the long-haired delinquent girl and her fellows a very intimidating glare, making the long-haired delinquent girl back up a few steps and her two fellows huddle up to one another as they cowered, acting like a pair of deer that were spotted and confronted by an alpha wolf.

"Don't go picking fights that you can't win," Saki warned in a growl, her menacing glare helping all the more to make the three delinquent girls back off.

Whispering to the long-haired delinquent girl, the one with the chin length hair said, "I think that we ought to do what this new one says. She seems really scary, and I highly doubt that even the three of us combined can take her down in a three-on-one."

"I agree," the glasses-wearing delinquent girl remarked.

The long-haired delinquent girl scoffed in annoyance before turning around to return to her scooter, being followed by her two friends. When the long-haired delinquent girl turned around, Saki and the others were able to see what was on the back of her red long coat; it was a bunch of kanji that said 'Dorami Eighth Boss: Maria Kirishima'. When she saw what was on that girl's coat, Saki let out a small, shocked-sounding gasp, as if something from her past had just popped up to pay her a surprise visit.

The three delinquent girls were on their respective scooters when the one identified as Maria Kirishima said, "Just remember, this park is Dorami territory! So don't go acting like a bunch of dancing monkeys here!" The three girls then rode off before anyone could stop them.

…Not that any of the zombie girls that were there were in any mood/position to stop them from riding off. "Well now," Lily remarked dryly, "Talk about awkward."

"I know," Sakura commented. Turning to face Saki, Sakura said, "Thanks for scaring those girls off Sa-" Sakura stopped short and, along with Lily and Ayumu, looked at the stunned Saki, who simply stood there.

"…Seriously?" Saki muttered to herself as she just starred ahead, having no idea what to make of the blast from her past that had just cropped up here.

* * *

On a grassy field in front of a river near an overpass, Maria and her two friends were sitting near the bank of the river, their scooters parked nearby on the road. "I'm starting to think that it may be in our best interest to quit being biker girls and simply let Dorami fade into the past," the girl with chin length hair remarked, "We ought to quit while we're ahead and have yet to get the three of us into anything serious."

"Are you serious?!" Maria practically exclaimed when she turned to face her friend, "We're biker girls, not some little brats having a sleepover!"

Letting out a resigned sigh, the short-haired girl continued, "But we don't even ride around on motorcycles. We only have scooters."

"Yeah, and being in a gang is hard work, Maria" the glasses-wearing girl remarked, "Not to mention how we've been riding around while trying to avoid your cousin and his friends since they're trying to catch us and get us to stop anyway because your mom wants you to stop it with this whole gang thing." Slumping forward a bit as she rested her face in her hands, the glasses-wearing girl said, "I don't think this is all worth it."

"I'm never walking away from Dorami!" Maria declared defiantly, "I don't give a fuck what my mom or my good-two-shoes cousin and his friends have to say!" Giving the glasses wearing girl a firm glare, Maria scolded while giving a menacing look, "Also, what did I tell you about ever mentioning either of those two bastards?"

The glasses-wearing girl looked frightened as she inched away; even the short-haired girl looked scared, and she wasn't even being scolded by Maria. The current leader of Dorami would have gone on to say something else, but she was cut off when she and her friends heard a bike horn sound off. The three girls looked over and saw a row of black motorcycles come riding up. To the worry of Maria's two friends, the motorcycle in the middle denoted the rider as the leader of a gang called Korosuke.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," the short-haired girl said in a tone of complaint, "They of all people have to show up now?!"

The Korosuke motorcycles all parked in a circle around Maria and her friends, more or less trapping the three of them in. The boss of Korosuke, a girl with long light-gray hair, walked up to stand before the three girls of Dorami, giving them a menacing look of self-amusement. "It seems that you Dorami girls just don't seem to know when to quit," the Korosuke boss remarked with an amused smirk, patting her left hand's palm with a rolled up whip, "Do I have to take the three of you out once and for all, or will you all agree to finally hang your coats up and let me and the newest generation of Korosuke rule the roads here?"

"Oh geez, it's Korosuke's boss!" the glasses-wearing girl said as she and the short-haired girl cowered behind Maria, "I heard that her mother is a previous boss of Korosuke."

"I heard that the mom of Korosuke's current boss, back when she was still running Korosuke herself, is the person that scored the killing hit on the boss of the long-defunct gang Einherjar," the short-haired girl remarked, sounding very much afraid.

Maria paid her cowering friends' remarks about the current boss of Korosuke no mind. Rather, she looked at Korosuke's boss with a look of amusement. "…I guess we don't," Maria said, "But then again, it's not like I was ever going to stop-"

Maria was cut off when the various members of Korosuke pulled out various weapons; a rusted metal pipe, a crowbar, a length of chain, and one Korosuke girl even had a _fucking chainsaw_. And those were just a few examples of what armaments the Korosuke girls all brought with them to intimidate what was left of Dorami into shutting down. "I don't think that you get what I'm trying to get across to you," the Korosuke boss said to Maria, "But then again, we've had bad blood between us since day one."

"Heh," Maria sneered, "I was looking forward to being able to settle things between us once and for all. It sounds like a pretty good idea to me."

…

The black van that Kotaro uses to cart the Franchouchou girls around drove along one of the roads as Kotaro was getting them back from the park. "Can someone open a window, at least?" Junko asked, sounding mildly afraid, "Sorry, but I need some air in here. I feel really nervous about riding in the van, after all."

"Here, let me try a pressure point technique," Yugiri offered as she pressed her thumb against the Showa idol zombie girl's forehead.

"Umm…I'm not sure if it will work since we're all zombies," Sakura pointed out, sounding mildly unsure of the courtesan zombie girl's idea.

There were a few other things going on in the van, and all at once, but Kotaro cut all of it off by shouting, "Will you brain-dead dead weights knock it off?!" As the eccentric man was shouting at the zombie girls, Saki was just listlessly looking out the window she sat next to. As she was looking out that window, the delinquent zombie girl saw the Korosuke girls surround Maria and her two friends, while off to the one side a group of five teens came running over.

Worried for Maria and the revived Dorami, Saki opened the van door and jumped out, startling the rest of the zombie girls aside from Tae for obvious reasons and Sigrid who was amused by Saki's daring; Saki also pissed Kotaro off a bit with her stunt when Lily informed him that she (Saki) just jumped out of the van. With the momentum that she had, Saki rolled down some steps in a curled up position, eventually reaching where the girls by the river bank were all gathered.

By the time that she got up after she stopped rolling, Saki saw that the gathered girls, as well as the group of five teen that she just now saw, were all looking at her. Only the five gathered teens were not freaking out. Also, Saki was seeing them upside down for some odd reason. Patting her head, Saki realized that her head had twisted, so she pushed it a bit to pop everything back into place, putting her head upright.

"There we go, good as new," Saki remarked. The delinquent zombie girl walked towards everyone, but was stopped by a random Korosuke girl.

"Umm, this is none of your business," the random Korosuke girl said, only to be intimidated by a glare from Saki. This glaring also caught the attention of Maria and the Korosuke boss. With none willing to hinder her any further, the delinquent zombie girl made her way up to Maria and the Korosuke boss.

Pointing at Saki, the Korosuke boss demanded, "And just who the hell are you?"

"Why the fuck do you care?!" one of the five gathered teens, a boy with red eyes and spiky, ashy blonde hair, snapped, "If she gets in the way, then we'll kick her ass same as yours!" Holding up his hands, the ashy-haired boy surprising conjured a few tiny explosion that flew up. "You all better back the fuck off and go away right the fuck now unless you want a taste of U.A.," the blonde boy snarled. Jerking his left thumb at his friend with red spiky hair, the blonde boy said, "We're only here for Stupid Hair's bratty cousin."

All of the delinquent girls from Korosuke paled a bit, with the one who tried to stop Saki even saying, "Aww man, we really can't afford to tango with kids from _that_ high school." Pointing to the blonde boy and the red haired boy, the Korosuke girl continued, "And those two, they placed second and third in their school's recent tournament against Vulcan High."

The Korosuke boss scoffed a bit as she led her fellows back to their motorcycles, all of them getting on, revving up and riding off. After Korosuke had left, Saki turned to face the five teens that had shown up. "…So," Saki said to the five teens while jerking a thumb at Maria, "One of you is related to Maria here?"

"Yeah, she's my younger cousin," the boy with red spiky hair replied, "Her mom, who's my Aunt Reiko, asked me to try to get her to stop it with being a delinquent. That being said." Turning his attention to Maria, the red haired boy said, "Cous, Aunt Reiko has a point. Being part of a delinquent gang is hella unmanly."

Maria growled a bit as she and her two friends were scolded mildly by the red haired boy. Giving her older cousin a rude gesture, Maria said, "Screw you, Eijiro! Why do you and your friends here insist on butting in?!"

"Hey, he and your mom are both concerned about you!" the only girl in the group of five teen scolded. When Saki turned her attention over to look at that teen girl, the delinquent zombie girl was surprised to see that the teen girl had _pink_ skin, as well as pink fluffy hair and a pair of little yellow horns growing out of her head. Pointing at Maria, the pink-skinned girl continued, "You and your friends can get yourselves seriously hurt if the three of you keep this delinquent stuff up, you know!"

Nodding in agreement with the pink-skinned girl was a boy with strong yellow-blonde hair that had a black lightning bolt mark on the one side. "She's got a point," the lightning boy remarked, "Putting the physical dangers aside, there's no shortage of legal dangers you and your friends here can potentially face as well. I mean, if the police don't arrest you three at some point, then a pro hero will do them the favor of tracking you girls down and bringing you in if they can't get you to agree to behave."

"Actually," said the last boy in the group, who had straight black hair that reached his shoulders, as he gestured to himself and his friends, "The five of us all have our provisional licenses now, so we're legally allowed to detain you three girls and call the police to come and deal with you." Taking a step forward, the black-haired boy said as he gestured to Maria and her friends, "Since the three of you girls are clearly delinquents that are up to no good, my friends and I all have just cause to detain you."

Maria growled in annoyance as her cousin and his friends left her with no options. Turning to face Saki, Maria said, "And what about you?! Why did you butt in, huh?!"

Saki gave Maria a neutral look before turning her head to look away. "…Your wimpy ass stood no chance of fighting that chick," Saki replied simply, "You don't even have a weapon. She would have mopped the floor with you." Turning her body so that she was fully facing away from Maria, Saki said, "…By the way, you got a mom, right?" Maria and her friends, as well as the five teen that came over, all perked up a bit out of piqued interest by Saki's question. "…Do you mind telling me what your mom's name is?" the delinquent zombie girl asked.

"Why the hell do you care?" Maria snapped, "My mom is a total wuss!"

"Oi, don't go talking about Aunt Reiko like that, Maria!" the red haired boy, identified as Eijiro, snapped at his younger cousin, "That's not very manly of you!" Maria merely growled at her high school-aged cousin before she turned around and left, followed by her two friends.

After the revived Dorami gang left the scene, Saki let out a resigned sigh. "…Sorry that your cousin is giving you so much trouble," Saki said when she turned to face Eijiro and his friends.

Gently shaking his head, Eijiro replied, "I'm honestly not caring about that trouble she's giving me. I just share Aunt Reiko's concerns about getting Maria to cut it out with all of this damn delinquent rebellion junk, is all."

Saki smirked a bit as she looked at the red haired boy. "…You got a really good head on those shoulders of yours, kid," Saki remarked, "Your cousin really ought to take more after you, if you want my opinion."

Eijiro nodded in thanks to the delinquent zombie girl before his ashy blonde-haired friend got his attention and led him and the rest of the teen off to go after Maria and her friends, leaving Saki be. As she watched the five teens depart, Saki had only one thought on her mind.

"…_How does that girl have PINK skin_?!" Saki exclaimed in her mind.

* * *

Later that night at the Amabuki residence, the now adult Reiko was sitting at a dining table, some plastic-wrapped food set up to be unwrapped and eaten whenever. Looking at the clock, the purple-haired woman saw that the time was about five minutes past eight. As she looked at the wall clock with a worried expression, Reiko heard the front door open. Looking over, she saw Maria walk in.

…Actually, Maria was somewhat forced in, as her cousin, gripping her right arm by the bicep, pushed her into the house. "I tracked Maria down for you, Aunt Reiko," Eijiro remarked, "She was doing that Dorami gang stuff again. My friends are taking her two pals back to where they both respectively live as we speak."

Reiko let out a resigned sigh of relief. "Thank you for helping me, Eijiro," Reiko said before turning her attention to Maria. "And seriously, Maria! What is going on with you?"

"Get off my back," Maria scoffed as she tried to leave, only to be stopped by her cousin.

"Wait, this was in the mailbox for you," Reiko said as she got up, picking up a letter that was on the table and showing it to Maria. It was a simple folded paper that said 'challenge' on the front.

Maria saw it, recognizing it right away for what it was. "Those dumbasses just won't leave me alone," Maria snarled as she yanked the challenge letter from her mom's hands.

"Hey cous, you gotta stop doing this," Eijiro remarked in a concerned tone.

"You back off too" Maria snapped at her cousin, "Geez! What the hell is wrong with both you and mom?!" The delinquent girl proceeded to storm away, leaving her cousin looking on in concern and her mother, a somber look on her face, sitting down with feelings of guilt eating away at her on the inside.

Reiko let out a resigned sigh, troubled by the actions of her rebellious daughter yet feeling that she had no way to put an effective stop to it. "I'm…" Reiko said, barely loud enough to be heard by both Maria and Eijiro, "…I'm sorry."

Maria, upon hearing her meek mother apologizing, shuddered a bit with anger and annoyance. Turning quickly to face Reiko, Maria snapped, "What the hell is wrong with you?! Why do you keep apologizing for no damn reason?! Why are you such a weakling?!" Before either Reiko or Eijiro could stop her, Maria stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her which made her mother flinch slightly. Seeing his aunt flinch like that made Eijiro scowl in disappointment aimed at his younger cousin.

* * *

The Amabuki residence wasn't the only place that night where scolding was taking place, as there was similar chewing out occurring over at the abandoned mansion in Saga. However, said scolding was of a…slightly more eccentric…nature. "WHAT IN THE NAME OF GILGAMESH IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Kotaro yelled at Saki as he had her in his office. The delinquent zombie girl was looking away, her head turned to the side, as Kotaro was chewing her out over the stunt that she had pulled earlier in the day.

Pointing an accusing finger at Saki, Kotaro said, "You're lucky that those high schoolers all thought that your neck being twisted like that was due to you having something called a quirk! Do you have any idea what could happen if word about the truth concerning you and the rest of the girls in Franchouchou were to get out?! Communication between you girls and your living fans has to be where you girls are acting as actresses, and acting as actresses ALONE! Don't go jumping into every random happening that you end up coming across! Do I make myself clear?!"

Letting out a sigh that was an even mix of resigned and mildly annoyed with Kotaro's antics, Saki replied, "Yes, sir."

Kotaro, who was leaning over his desk as he chewed the delinquent zombie girl out while he was propping himself up by putting his hands on his desk, straightened up, crossing his arms over his chest. "…You don't quite seem to get the picture here, do you?" the eccentric man asked, "You and the other girls have to avoid violence. As actresses, getting involved in violence is a very big taboo. If just one of you slips up, there's a very good chance that it will undo everything." As he gave Saki a serious look, the eccentric man said, "Don't go forgetting that."

Saki had to admit that she was a bit surprised with how serious Kotaro was being at the moment. Granted, Kotaro did have his moments of being wise and serious, but to Saki's view said serious moments were very few and very far between.

* * *

Later after Maria had stormed away, Reiko was alone in her house. She picked up a framed photo of herself holding Maria back when she was still a baby. The purple-haired woman remembers back to when Maria was the precious little baby girl that she gave birth to; Reiko recalled with fondness of how she would lift the giggling baby Maria up into the air.

"_I'm so grateful to have you in my life, Maria,_" Reiko recalled saying to baby Maria way back in the day. Reiko also remembered one moment when Maria was taken to school by her dad, with Reiko reminding her daughter to use good manners at school. There was also a memory that Reiko recalled when Maria said that she was heading out to visit her cousin Eijiro, explaining to her mom that she wanted to see her older cousin use Hardening.

Reiko remarked that she was glad that her daughter was the kind of girl who refrained from getting herself into any sort of trouble. Indeed, Reiko was glad that Maria was developing into the kind of person that she was seeing grow up right before her very eyes. As one can imagine then, it took the purple-haired woman by surprise when, one night, Maria came home a bit later than usual, wearing a red long coat.

Maria had an annoyed, unamused scowl on her face, and swiped her thumb against the right side of her nose as she scoffed. Reiko was shocked, knowing full well what this sudden development in her daughter meant. The plate that Reiko held at the time she saw this slipped from her grasp, falling to the floor where it shattered upon impact.

Back in reality, Reiko turned around the framed photo she held, opened the back in order to reveal a photo that she kept hidden there; it was a photo of Reiko herself back in her wild days as a delinquent girl. Standing next to Reiko in the photo was Saki, Reiko's closest friend. The two girls stood outside of a Drive-In Tori, and Saki was holding up a Tamagotchi. Reiko, as she took a long look at that photo, could not help but let out a bit of a chuckle.

"If you could see me now…" Reiko muttered to herself, speaking to her long dead friend as if Saki was right there with her, "…I wonder what you would say to me, say about me."

* * *

Over at the abandoned mansion, Saki was standing on one of the upper floor patios, looking out into the backyard as she allowed her mind to wander.

(FLASHBACK)

(DATE: AUGUST 1ST, 1997)

"So Saki," Reiko began in a conversational, casual tone as she and Saki looked over a landscape on a curve in the road, the two of them leaning on some railing that had been set up, "What are your plans?"

Saki, turning to face Reiko, said with a hint of confusion in her tone, "Plans for…"

Reiko let out an amused chuckle, amused by her friend being slow on the uptake. "The future, you knucklehead," the purple-haired girl replied, "What are your plans for the future?"

Saki turned back to look over the landscape that unfurled before her and her boss in Dorami. "My guess is that after we take over Kyushu," the blond-haired delinquent said, "We could go and take over the rest of the country. It won't be easy, especially given that we're eventually going to have to go up against Einherjar since word has it they have the same goals, but there's no doubt in my mind that we can pull it off."

"Heh that sounds like you," Reiko remarked. Turning her head to face forward again, Reiko said, "Personally, I got something a bit different in mind."

"Hmm?" Saki asked, turning back to face Reiko again, "What do you mean? What sort of plans do you have for the future?" Reiko only gave a calm, closed-eyed smile as she gave the notion a few moments of thought.

"This may strike you as a bit on the odd side," Reiko said as she began to admit to what she really wanted in life, "But I just want to get married, have a kid or two, and overall just have a nice, normal life. Nothing to fancy or anything." Letting out a sigh, the purple-haired girl said, "My folks are divorced, and I'm in a biker gang. That's not exactly normal, you know? It kind of sucks how nothing's come out normal for me. I mean, my older brother's got the right idea, what with how he has his life figured out and all." Gently shaking her head, Reiko said, "I just don't want my kids to grow up and walk the same path that I did, that I'm walking right now."

Saki gave a mildly confused frown as she regarded her boss and friend. "That word you keep saying, 'normal'," the blonde-haired girl said, "What is this 'normal' of which you speak?" Reiko could not help but giggle a bit at her friend's honest question.

"Oh Saki," Reiko remarked, clearly amused by the fact that, apparently, the word 'normal' literally does not exist in Saki's dictionary.

(FLASHBACK OVER)

Saki continued to lean on the railing of that upper floor patio at the abandoned mansion, thinking about times long past. "…That girl did have the same eyes as Reiko," the delinquent zombie girl muttered to herself, "And that red-haired boy did confirm that the girl and Reiko are related." Saki would have gone on, but she stopped short when she heard the blaring horns of gang motorcycles sound off in the distance. It made Saki remember the encounter with the current Korosuke that took place earlier in the day.

Saki remembered how Maria looked like she was gearing up to have a one-v-one against the current boss of Korosuke, despite clearly having no chance of winning. Saki wouldn't put it past Maria if she were to try to sneak off to have another go at trying to challenge the Korosuke boss when no one was around to get in her way. "…You cannot be serious," Saki muttered to herself as she ran back into the mansion. She sped down the stairs and got to the front door. Saki placed her hand on the doorknob, but stopped short when she heard someone call out to her.

"A lovely night for a stroll, don't you think?" Kotaro's voice called out to Saki in a serious, knowing tone, sounding like Kotaro knew that Saki was going to head out to do something rather risky, "Going out somewhere, I take it?" The delinquent zombie girl turned around and came face to face with the eccentric man himself. Kotaro gave Saki a serious look, one that would hear no arguing from her. "Did you not observe anything of what I said to you earlier?" Kotaro asked, his tone oddly serious for the moment. Saki sighed in a resigned tone before she turned to face the eccentric man fully.

"...Aside from the fact that you apparently worship a Sumerian demigod…" Saki began somewhat dryly, "…I actually heard a lot more than what you're giving me credit for."

"Then where do you think you're off to?" Kotaro asked.

Turning around to face the front door, the delinquent zombie girl said, "…Where do you think? I've got some business that only an actress like myself can do. Business in which I won't be doing anything to besmirch the good name of Franchouchou, just in case you were worried about stuff like that." Saki then opened the front door and walked out, uncaring if Kotaro would try to stop her or not.

…But the eccentric man was not going to stop her. He simply stood there, Romero the zombie Japanese Chin fast asleep in his arms, as he considered what exactly it was that Saki was going to get up to. But he had a strong feeling that Saki would live up to her words of 'not doing anything to besmirch the good name of Franchouchou'. Kotaro could tell that the delinquent zombie girl was serious, and he felt that she had to see whatever it was that she had in mind right through to the end.

…

Over at the Amabuki residence, Reiko opened the door to Maria's bedroom. "Maria, sweetie," Reiko began as she opened the door, "Are you hung-" Reiko stopped short when she saw that not only was the room empty, but the window was open, letting the cool night air in as the curtains blew in the breeze. The purple-haired woman let out a worried gasp as she looked around, soon spotting the opened challenge letter Maria had gotten in the mail earlier that day.

Reiko dashed over to her daughter's desk where said letter laid. It simply said 'Come at midnight to Kagamiyama, 10TH Korosuke boss'. Reiko gasped once again as she read the location where the challenge was to be held. "Kagamiyama," Reiko muttered aloud to herself as a brief flash to something that occurred in her past flashed across her mind; a busted spot in some railing that led to a skyward billowing cloud of black smoke and some flames.

It was something that Reiko was _**never**_ going to allow to happen again, especially to her daughter Maria. With a firm look of determination on her face, Reiko rushed to her bedroom and yanked open a drawer in her nightstand; inside of which, resting on a small little pillow, were two items from Reiko's past. One a small key and the other a light blue Tamagotchi whose batteries have long since died.

Reiko grabbed the key, ran to her garage and right over to something covered with a tarp covering. The purple-haired woman yanked the covering off, revealing her motorcycle that she rode on way back in the day, back when she was still in Dorami herself. Despite the age, Reiko's motorcycle was still in excellent condition, functioning very much the same as it did well over twenty years ago.

Without a moment's hesitation, Reiko hopped on her motorcycle and rode out, intending to find her only child before a terrible happening from Reiko's past had a repeat performance on that night. "_Please be okay when I find you_, _Maria_," the purple-haired woman thought worriedly as she raced off to Kagamiyama, praying to any and every deity that would listen to her that Maria was still alright when she found her.

(FLASHBACK)

(DATE: AUGUST 30TH, 1997)

"You ready to do this?" a random Korosuke girl with a very elaborate hairstyle that was apparently meant to resemble what Saki and Reiko assumed to be a phoenix asked the blonde-haired girl of Dorami.

"You ready to get a new hairstyle?" Saki retorted dryly. As the Korosuke girl scoffed while she walked over to her motorcycle, Saki handed something over to Reiko. The purple-haired girl was surprised to see that it was Saki's beloved Tamagotchi. "Yo, Reiko, hang on to this for me," Saki said before walking over to her own motorcycle. When Reiko called out to her, Saki turned back around, flashed Reiko a confident smile. "Relax," Saki reassured her boss and friend, "There's no way I'm going to die. Not until I come back to get that little guy back from you."

…Yeah, Saki ended up dying when she crashed through the railing overlooking that area, falling down over the ledge and crashing her motorcycle, creating an explosion that wrecked both herself and her motorcycle, which created a billowing cloud of smoke and flames that rose up into the night sky. Silver lining, the Korosuke girl who Saki was racing in that game of Chicken cowered out at the last minute and turned to avoid potentially crashing herself, which meant that Saki technically won that game of Chicken.

But it wasn't all that much of a silver lining as far as Reiko was concerned. "Saki!" the purple-haired woman cried out in fear as she ran over to the spot what Saki crashed through. She looked over the ledge, unable to see either Saki or her motorcycle due to all of the smoke and flames that billowed upwards. The boss of Dorami cried Saki's name out in anguish, begging against all hope that this was nothing more than some elaborate prank.

(FLASHBACK OVER)

But it _wasn't_ a prank. No, Saki really did die all those years ago, and now there was a very good chance that Reiko's own daughter may end up meeting that very same fate. Which was all the more reason why the purple-haired woman sped off towards Kagamiyama, revving up so much that in her haste to speed off to save her child, Reiko let her apron that she wore fly off.

* * *

"This overlook has a lot of history for our respective gangs," the current Korosuke boss said as she and Maria, both on their respective rides, looked towards the railing that served as the barrier between life and death for them in the game of Chicken that they were about to race in, "I can't think of a better place for Dorami to die than right here." Pointing towards the railing, the current Korosuke boss said, "We'll race towards the railing. Frist girl to hit the breaks loses." Turning to regard Maria, the Korosuke boss said in something of a smug, taunting tone, "You can still back out now if you want."

Maria merely scoffed in annoyance in response. "You think I'm going to chicken out now?" Maria asked, "That sounds dumber than my good two shoes cousin." Giving the Korosuke boss a serious look, Maria said, "Let's just do this already."

The Korosuke boss actually smirked a bit in amusement. "…Now that's what I wanted to hear," the girl with long gray hair remarked. A random Korosuke girl raised her right hand up, preparing to signal the beginning of the game of Chicken. However, before she could finish her countdown, she and everyone else there heard the screeching of tires. Looking over, all of the delinquent girls saw a woman riding up on an admittedly rather epic looking motorcycle. But to Maria, when she saw that it was her mother on that motorcycle, she only scoffed in annoyance.

"Wait Maria!" Reiko said as she brought her motorcycle to a stop.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Maria snapped, her annoyance growing more and more as Reiko got off of her motorcycle and simply walked past Maria.

Facing the current Korosuke boss, Reiko said, "Look, I'm going to have to ask that you call this off." Bowing her head to the Korosuke boss, Reiko continued, "Please. I'm begging you."

The Korosuke boss, as well as her fellows, did not react in any notable way; they did not laugh at or mock the purple-haired woman. However, Maria _did_ have a few choice words for her mother. "…Why the hell is it that all you know how to do is bow your head and apologize?" Maria said, getting her mother to perk up and turn to face her. "You were the first boss of Dorami, weren't you?" Maria demanded, "So how the hell did you end up like this?!"

Reiko, as well as Maria's two friends who came to watch because of course they did, and the lot of Korosuke girls that were there, all stood off to the side with surprised looks on their faces as Maria walked over to her scooter, intending to get on. "Maria, wait!" Reiko said, "Don't do this! Please! You're throwing your life away!"

Maria ignored her mother and was just about to sit down on her scooter's seat. However, she and everyone else there perked up when they heard the chiming of a bicycle's bell. Looking over, all of the girls there saw someone come racing up on a bicycle. When the bicycle girl got close enough, Reiko recognized her as the blonde girl from Franchouchou, the actress troop that stars in the latest hit TV show 'Saga Stories'. The very same actress that very closely resembles her late friend Saki.

It actually was Saki, but Reiko did not know that. As she came close, Saki turned her bike to the side in an attempt to drift. "Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!" Saki said in a panic as she got close to where a lot of the motorcycles belonging to the Korosuke girls was parked. Luckily for her, Saki was able to pull up and stop the bike before crashing into the row of motorcycles. "Whew," the delinquent zombie girl said in a relieve tone, "That was a close one."

Saki got off of the bike, showing that she wore a sash that was labeled 'captain for a day'. Paying no mind to the girls and Reiko, Saki merely walked towards the current Korosuke boss. "Take a look at the sash, bitch," Saki said to the Korosuke boss while jerking a thumb over her shoulder at Maria, "I'm in charge of Dorami for today. That means that I'm going to be racing you instead of the pipsqueak over there."

Maria was very steamed that this blonde girl from earlier was butting in, but before she could get a single word out, Saki cut her off. "Chill thyself before you kill thyself," Saki said to Maria, "If anything, you ought to be glad that Dorami got another member." Maria tried once again to speak up, but Saki cut her off by putting her hands on both of Maria's shoulders. "Just so you're aware," the delinquent zombie girl began, "A past member of Dorami got killed doing this."

The look of shocked surprise on Maria's face told Saki that she had her attention. "Are you seriously willing to die here?" Saki asked, leaving Maria standing there stunned as she herself turned around and began walking towards Reiko's motorcycle. "Yo, I'm borrowing your ride," Saki said, not even bothering to turn to face Reiko, much less ask properly to borrow the old but well cared-for motorcycle.

"Don't you even think about doing this!" Reiko said, "What if you die?!"

Saki merely turned to face Reiko, flashed her a smile that reminded the purple haired woman of her long dead friend, a friend that she had no idea was standing right there in front of her. "There's no way I'm going to die," Saki said, further shocking Reiko with more blasts from their shared past together.

The boss of Korosuke didn't care who she raced; either way, she was going to end Dorami here and now. The long gray-haired girl faced off against the delinquent zombie girl as the two of them looked towards the railing overlooking Kagamiyama. With the signal from the one girl in Korosuke, the boss and Saki began to race right towards the railing, surprising everyone that was watching the race.

The two girls were neck in neck for the first few seconds of their Chicken game. However, Saki suddenly sped up, surprising the Korosuke boss. "Are you frigg'in kidding me?!" the Korosuke boss cried out in surprise. The Korosuke boss gripped the breaks to bring her motorcycle to a sudden stop, not wanting to have to deal with the apparent crazy that was the surprise member of Dorami that took the small gang's current boss's place in the race.

"Ah hells yeah!" Saki cheered when she saw that the current Korosuke boss chickened out of the race first, "Score one for Dorami, score zero for-" The delinquent zombie girl stopped short when she saw that she was getting dangerously close to the railing overlooking Kagamiyama, her eyes widening a bit in surprise. "Oh shit!" Saki exclaimed as she raced closer and closer to that railing, "This is looking really-"

Saki stopped short, as did the motorcycle that she borrowed from Reiko, when someone jumped in front of the speeding motorcycle and, pushing against it with their hands, managed to actually stop Saki and the motorcycle in place, even though the wheels and motor were still going. To the delinquent zombie girl's surprise, it was Reiko's nephew Eijiro that had jumped in front of the ride and stopped it in place with nothing more than his sheer physical strength.

What further surprised Saki was that Eijiro looked extremely rugged, as if he were made entirely from some very hard material, as well as sharp and jagged in a few places. With a snarling, serious look on his face, the red-haired boy shouted at Saki, "Turn it off!" Getting the cue, Saki quickly shut off the motor, safely turning Reiko's motorcycle off. With no power currently making the motorcycle go, Eijiro was able to relax as he backed off from pushing against his aunt's old ride while allowing Saki to get off.

"…Damn," Saki remarked, "That was almost a-" Saki was cut off when Reiko, who had come walking right over to where she stood with Eijiro, struck Saki right across her face with a rather powerful slap.

"What in the name of Anubis is fucking wrong with you, huh?!" Reiko exclaimed angrily at Saki as she gripped her by the collar of her jacket, "You're lucky that my nephew came in and stopped you and my motorcycle from crashing over that railing! Otherwise things would have gone very fucking south for you! Just what in the hell were you fucking thinking?!"

Saki said nothing as she was chewed out by Reiko. Instead, she turned to face where Maria was standing, shooting her a rather amused looking smirk. "…Yo, Maria," Saki called out, "I'm going to have to call shenanigans on all of that stuff you said when you talked down about your mom here. From where I'm standing, she's pretty damn tough."

The delinquent zombie girl's words made Maria and Reiko look at one another; as a result of being distracted, Reiko let go of Saki, allowing her to flump down on her butt before falling over to lay on the ground face up. "…I still don't quite get it," Saki muttered to herself in a rhetorical manner, "I still don't understand this 'normal' that everyone speaks of."

Saki was surprised when a hand was extended to her, an offer to help her get up off of the ground. Saki took it, and ended up coming face to face with Reiko's nephew Eijiro. "That was a pretty manly thing you did," Eijiro remarked, "All to try to get my cousin to finally give Aunt Reiko the respect that she deserves from her." As she looked at the red-haired boy, Saki looked at him, saw that he was no longer hard and jagged all over.

"…You aren't hard and jagged anymore," Saki noted.

"I'm not using my quirk right now," Eijiro explained.

Saki wasn't even going to try to argue the point with Eijiro. Instead, she merely let out an amused chuckle, showing some defeat in trying to understand everything that was going on at the moment. "…Thanks again for the save, kid," Saki remarked, hints of mild amusement in her tone, "Both in saving me and your aunt's motorcycle."

Eijiro nodded in agreement before he and Saki were approached by the Korosuke boss. "I guess this means that you win," the Korosuke boss said to Saki, "If you were an actual biker girl, you would be a legendary one."

"Legendary…" Saki said to herself, then immediately perked up. "Oh shit!" the delinquent zombie girl exclaimed, "I almost forgot the most important part!" Saki then went over to Reiko's motorcycle, turned it around so that it faced everyone, and turned on the front lights before she stood on the seat so that everyone could see her. "Now listen up, everyone!" Saki declared, "There's nothing awesome about throwing your lives away! You want to be legends? Then take after me and become a _real_ legend!"

The Korosuke girls, Reiko, Maria and Maria's friends all looked on with surprised looks, whereas Eijiro gave a few silent nods, approving of how badass and manly Saki was being at the moment. He felt that Saki had everything down here, and would be able to convince the delinquent girls that were all gathered here to give up the delinquent life and stop trying to get themselves up into any trouble.

…Kotaro, who watched nearby in the van, also approved of what Saki was doing, how she managed to diffuse the situation without using violence. He could also hear it when some of the girls recognized Saki as one of the actresses on 'Saga Stories', getting a lot of the delinquent girls to get excited on how not only were they in the presence of an actress, but that said actress was a badass biker girl who just showed that she was made of some seriously tough stuff. It helped that Kotaro heard the red-haired boy confirm that Saki was indeed one of the girls from the actress troop Franchouchou.

"…Looks like 'Saga Stories' just got a few more fans," Kotaro remarked to himself quietly, the amusement in his tone making it clear that he was glad that he allowed Saki to do what she had just done tonight.

END, SAGA STORIES CHAPTER TEN

Author's notes:

Well, there you have it. Saki has had her time in the spotlight, to show what she has to offer compared to the rest of the zombie girls. I made a few slight changes here and there, such as axing the live performance at the end (given the premise of this story, said performance would have been rather out of place) and making it so that Reiko's motorcycle wasn't destroyed; I actually have some plans for Reiko's motorcycle later on, so it was necessary for it to make it through the events of this chapter. I also worked a little bit more on building up the world that the zombie girls find themselves in, as it's necessary for a much later chapter in this story. Also, you would be just as surprised as I was if you'd look up what Reiko's maiden name is.

Anyway, the next chapter will see the zombie girls all go on a familiar trip up to the snow-covered Mount Tenzan. However, whereas in the series proper the trip was done to help Sakura relax before a big show, here in 'Saga Stories' the trip will instead be done to help another one of the main seven zombie girls, one that got little development in the first season in comparison to the rest of them. She's a zombie that I've been wanting to do a lot of work with, and I think that at least one person may be inclined to agree with me on how she needs some more time in the spotlight. That's right, folks, buckle in and get ready for a Yugiri-centric chapter next time.

…Wow, this chapter went on for a while.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Zombie Land Saga, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Saga Stories: A tale of Zombie Land Saga

Chapter eleven: A courtesan's learning in the mountains

It was a normal enough start to the morning for the zombie girls of Franchouchou. Aside from Tae who was chewing on some dried squid snack off to the side, all of them were seated at the counter table, eating what each of them had for breakfast as the wall-mounted TV was playing the local news. Not that the girls were exactly paying attention to the news, mind you; it was more or less there just to serve as background noise while they all ate.

Some of the girls were even having a conversation amongst themselves. "…It was a rather terrifying thing to go through," Hikari remarked as she finished off a story that she was telling to Sakura, Saki, Ai and Junko, "Being unable to breath at all as I slowly fell to my knees and rolled over on the floor in my bedroom. I ended up passing out after a few moments, although I have since come to learn that I didn't merely 'pass out'."

"I guess that deaths that happen to us slowly rather than something that happened instantly and before we could even think about what was happening are rather unsettling," Ai remarked, having some sympathy towards the gamer zombie girl as she knew full well what it was to not suffer an instant death that saved one the trouble of being scared as they died. In fact, Ai felt that Hikari's dying from a fatal asthma attack was more unsettling in how much it was lacking in the flashiness department, compared to Ai's own death in burning alive in a concert hall fire.

Giving a single nod, Sakura said, "Ai's got a point." With a mildly unsure look on her face, the long-haired zombie girl poked herself in her forehead, keeping the end of her right index finger pressed against the large scar that ran right down through her forehead. "I still don't remember how I died," Sakura confessed, "Likewise, I still don't remember anything of my life before I woke up as a zombie, although I for some reason get the feeling that I'm not missing all that much by not remembering my past life." With an affirmative nod, Sakura said, "That being said, I'm doing what I can to remember everything that happens in my new-"

Sakura was cut off when she was slapped across the face by Yugiri, who reached over to give the long-haired zombie girl (what Yugiri at least saw as) a much-needed slap to bring her back to reality. "You need to stop dwelling on the fact that you cannot remember anything about the life you once had," the courtesan zombie girl said to Sakura in a firm tone, "What you ought to do is put effort into making sure that you do not forget the memories that you make in the life that you now find yourself in."

"Umm…" Sakura said as she and most of the other zombie girls all looked at Yugiri, "…That's what I was trying to-" Sakura was cut off again, but this time it was because Sigrid grabbed Yugiri by the collar of her kimono top, turned her around forcefully so that she faced her, then gave the courtesan zombie girl a rather staggering punch across her face, sending Yugiri reeling back a few feet and landing on her butt on the kitchen floor.

"What in the name of Odin is wrong with you, harlot draugr?!" the half-foreign zombie girl bellowed at the prone Yugiri, "Once again you insist on stealing another's thunder! How many times must I have to throttle you before things finally begin to sink into that head of yours?!"

The other awakened zombie girls were a bit shocked at how suddenly Sigrid was being violent with Yugiri; Ayumu was even cowering a bit as she covered both of her ears with her hands, but that was mostly because the volume Sigrid was using was making the teen actress zombie girl feeling rather distressed. As Lily turned to try and reassure her teen counterpart, Sakura got up from her seat and walked over to Yugiri, giving her a hand up which was accepted.

After the courtesan zombie girl stood back up, she dusted herself off a bit. "…Thanks for the hand up, Sakura," Yugiri remarked, "Although I still-" Yugiri was cut off when Tae suddenly came running over on all fours, growling and snarling randomly at Yugiri and making her back up a step or two. "Tae, please!" Yugiri said as she was a bit frightened of what might have made the unawakened zombie girl act in such a manner, "Whatever it was that I did to offend you, I'm very sorry!"

Tae still continued to snarl and growl at Yugiri. Furthermore, when Tae stood up to be level with Yugiri, Tae covered her rear end with both of her hands, as if doing so to protect her rear from something that did not sit all that well with her. "…Oh!" Saki remarked as she watched Tae act in such a manner. Turning to face Yugiri, the delinquent zombie girl said, "I think that Tae is still mad at you about how you landed face-first in her butt when we grilled Shades about Shrimpy's life before she died."

"In Yugiri's defense," Ai began as she got the attention of most of the other zombie girls, "It wasn't technically her fault. It's how things just ended up happening when Kotaro threw us all out of his office." Turning her attention briefly to the still-growling Tae, Ai turned her attention to Yugiri and remarked, "That being said Yugiri, I still think that you ought to apologize to Tae properly. Your fault or not, Tae's still unhappy with how you landed face-first in her butt."

Nodding in agreement towards the Heisei idol zombie girl, Yugiri then turned to face Tae. "I am very sorry that how I landed in your rear end made you feel very uncomfortable," Yugiri said as she bowed her head to Tae. The unawakened zombie girl just stood there for a few moments as she tried to understand what Yugiri was doing exactly. Thankfully, Tae was able to get it that the courtesan zombie girl was being apologetic to her. Correctly assuming that Yugiri was saying sorry over touching her (Tae's) butt with her (Yugiri's) face, Tae calmed down a bit. Her hands were still covering her butt, but Tae did stop growling and snarling at Yugiri.

Most of the zombie girls were glad to resume eating breakfast, thankful that the situation between Yugiri and Tae had been diffused. However, some of the zombie girls, Sakura and Saki in particular, still had a few reservations. This wasn't the first incident where the courtesan zombie girl had gotten her fellow undead riled up, had done or said something that offended one of the other girls of Franchouchou. The zombie girls all returned to their breakfast, but it went unnoticed by the rest of them when Sakura and Saki exchanged a silent agreement between the two of them.

* * *

Later that evening, Kotaro was sitting by himself at a table in the corner of a traditional Japanese-style bar. The eccentric man took a small bottle of sake and poured some into a sake cup for himself. He contemplated the sake for a bit before he drank the small cup's contents in a single gulp. As he placed the sake cup back down on the table, he heard the door to his left open up, letting him know someone was entering the bar.

Kotaro wasn't the only one who heard the door open either. "Ah, welcome," the barman said as he looked over to greet the new patrons, "Welcome to- Oh!" The barman, as well as a few of the guys sitting at the bar, all turned to see who it was that entered. The barman and the men all sitting at the bar were surprised to see not one, but _two_ girls walk into the bar. In this case, it was Sakura and Saki, both using monster glamour to look human, that came into the bar.

"Sorry to bother you guys," Sakura said in a mildly worried tone, "But we're just here to speak with our manager about something." Saki merely gave a mildly growly hum of agreement to the barman and the men at the bar before she and Sakura turned to face Kotaro.

"…Is there something that you ladies want?" the eccentric man asked, never bothering to turn to face Sakura and Saki.

Saki led Sakura over to Kotaro's table, where the two of them sat down. "Look Shades," Saki began in a serious tone, "We're here to talk to you about Yugiri."

Kotaro said nothing until he poured himself another cup of sake and drank it down before setting the now empty cup down on the table. "…Is there something the matter with her?" Kotaro asked, sounding like he had a feeling where this conversation might end up going.

Sakura nodded twice in the affirmative before she spoke up. "Umm…" the long-haired zombie girl began, "…With all due respect to her, Yugiri isn't _exactly_ the group favorite. Don't get me wrong, we can't exactly hold a whole lot against her due to how she grew up, as well as what time period she grew up in." Letting out a resigned sigh, Sakura went on, "It's just that we really need to get Yugiri caught up on how things are handled in current time."

"Do you know how many times she's slapped people across the face while they were having epiphanies, only to tell them what they were already realizing in those moments?" Saki said more than asked, "How many instances there has been of Yugiri pissing on the shoes of the rest of us girls in Franchouchou?" With a shrug, Saki continued, "I've lost track of how many times Sigrid has threatened to send Yugiri to straight to Viking hell. We really have to do something to get Yugiri on the right track and fast."

Kotaro merely sat there as he listened to Sakura and Saki air their grievances. "…So what do you girls propose?" the eccentric man asked.

Clapping her hands together, Sakura said, "I was thinking of a trip up to Mount Tenzan." Nodding once in confirmation, Sakura explained, "I think that if the ten of us were to go up on a camping trip to Mount Tenzan, then the bonding time would give us what we need to work with in order to reach through to Yugiri so that we can work on some of her less positive traits."

Kotaro sat there as he contemplated what Sakura was suggesting. "…A camping trip up to some snow-covered woods in the mountains?" Kotaro said, sounding like he didn't quite get what the long-haired zombie girl was up to.

"Egghead's got a good point, Shades," Saki remarked, "A trip to a place that remote will have very little chance if any of someone spying on us like what happened at the bonfire party that we had on the beach. Besides, we've been to mostly warm locals thus far, so a trip where we'll be in a snow-covered wonderland may be just the thing that we need to shake things up."

The eccentric man conceded that the two zombie girls sitting before him had an excellent point on how a trip to a remote snow-covered area would run a significantly lower chance of anyone from the paparazzi spying on them to snap a few photos. The girls of Franchouchou still had to get in a bit more bonding time in order to truly function like the well-oiled actress machine that he wanted them to be, and Kotaro will admit that Yugiri was a squeaky wheel that was in great need for some of that oil.

"…Very well," Kotaro replied, "Just try not to draw too much attention to yourselves. Also, don't forget to pack essential items that you'll need for the trip. You girls _are _going up to some snow-covered woods in the mountains, after all."

Sakura and Saki both nodded once in thanks to Kotaro, with Sakura even saying, "Thank you, Kotaro-san." The two zombie girls then got up and left the bar, happy that they were able to get Kotaro to agree to their plans to ultimately help hammer out the not-so-glamorous aspects that made up Yugiri as a person. Kotaro merely sighed to himself as he poured himself another cup of sake, pulling out a tentacle of dried squid snack to eat as he enjoyed his drink.

* * *

The zombie girls of Franchouchou, accompanied by Kotaro who brought along Romero the zombie Japanese Chin, were walking up the first few dozen feet up in the snow-covered woods located on Mount Tenzan. To the bafflement of some of the zombie girls, Kotaro was not only wearing a green alpine hat that had thin yellow and red stripes along the base of the cap part, but he was rather insistent on wearing it, claiming that his hat fit the setting that they were in both naturally and perfectly. He also yodeled every few meters or so that they walked thus far.

And the eccentric man's hat and yodeling wasn't the only reason why he was getting some considering looks of mild confusion from some of the undead actresses, all of which were either using monster glamour or a very good makeup job from Kotaro himself to look human. "Hey Shades," Saki began in a dry tone, "Why did you make Junko drive us from the mansion all the way here to the mountains for our camping trip?"

With a somewhat smug, self-amused smirk on his face, Kotaro said, "Oh, Saki. As the manager of you girls, I take your emotional well-being and development very seriously." Tapping his fist into his hand, the eccentric man continued, "As you girls having various fears is of great concern to me, I feel that it is my duty to do what I can to help you girls get over said fears. As such, I had Junko drive us all here to the mountains to help her try to get over her Amaxophobia." Wagging his right index finger at Saki, Kotaro said, "Baby steps, my dear Saki. It's all about taking baby steps."

"She was screaming in fear at the top of her lungs from the time we left the mansion to the time she pulled up in the parking lot at the base of the mountains," Saki pointed out dryly as she jerked a thumb over her shoulder, pointing out a still shuddering Junko, hunched up with her left hand on her right bicep and right hand on left bicep as she wore a shell-shocked look on her face. There was a bit of alarm on Ayumu's face, although it wasn't all that much; the teen actress zombie girl was also wearing a pair of noise-canceling headphones.

"BABY STEPS!" the eccentric man exclaimed loudly, a hint of riled up excitement in his tone before he calmed down. After relaxing a bit, Kotaro said, "Anyway ladies, we'll set up camp about one-thousand and forty-six meters above sea level. That should make the camping nice and remote for us, so as to avoid any potential paparazzi that may want to spy on us and take more photos to sell to bastards like Sagazine Today."

Junko, having heard Kotaro mention Sagazine Today, was able to effectively calm down from her amaxophobia-induced hysteric shuddering, although her panicking air was replaced with a very bemused one, which saw the Showa idol zombie girl cross her arms over her chest as she wore a very unamused scowl on her face. "Yeesh," Junko commented, her tone sounding mildly bitter, "Please don't remind me of those media hounds."

* * *

Later, when the group got to about eight-hundred meters, Sakura turned to face Saki, who was walking alongside next to her. "…Hey Saki," the long-haired zombie girl began, "You think that we'll be able to reach a good point with Yugiri by the time this camping trip is over?"

"The hell if I know, Egghead," Saki replied. Turning to face Sakura, the delinquent zombie girl said as she raised a fist up a bit in a somewhat threatening gesture, "But if this doesn't do enough of a job at fixing some of Yugiri's problems, then I'll just knock some much needed sense into that skull of hers the hard way."

Sakura, paling a bit, let out a bit of a nervous chuckle before saying, "I…don't think that striking Yugiri physically is absolutely called for, Saki. I mean, Yugiri already gets plenty of that sort of treatment from Sigrid anyway, so throwing you into the mix would just be overkill." Saki, with a look of indifference on her face, merely shrugged her shoulders in a likewise manner, deciding that she wouldn't even bother.

…

Ai was holding a map of the area that clearly looked like it was hand drawn/written out by Kotaro; the labels for 'Karatsu', 'Nanamagiri Pass', and 'Tenzan', as well as a scrawled out bit saying 'Somewhere around here, I think' were all clearly penned in the eccentric man's own handwriting. "It looks like we're here," the Heisei idol zombie girl remarked aloud, a hint of very mild uncertainty in her tone as she, along with Junko and Hikari, looked around the area that they and the other zombie girls found themselves in.

"Why didn't Kotaro stay with us to handle the map instead of going off on his own for some odd reason?" Hikari asked rhetorically.

Junko gave a confused shrug as she said, "Maybe he wants to relive a moment from his childhood by building as big of a snowman as he can manage? That's my guess, at least." The Showa idol zombie girl then flumped down on her butt onto the ground, letting out a tired sigh as she said, "I would have probably died here if it wasn't for the fact I'm a zombie. I'm so tired."

"I feel like a popsicle over here," Lily moaned in complaint as she laid on the ground, propped up slightly against a rock formation.

Pounding her fist into her hand, Saki declared to the rest of the girls, "Well ladies, since we got to as good of a spot as any, I say we get cracking on setting up camp. Then, once we have things established on that front, we can get crackalackin on some group exercises to work out a few of the issues that some of us have with one another, as well as work on a couple of problems that we have with ourselves."

"I…" Ai began as she raised a hand, sounding like she had a bit of trepidation, "…I would like to try roasting some food over the campfire once we get it going."

Ai's saying that she wanted to try to cook some food over the campfire that they were going go get set up drew some surprised looks out of the other zombie girls, especially Sakura, Saki and Ayumu, all of whom sat with Ai during the bonfire beach party they had a while ago. Saki had a mild look of being impressed on her face as she regarded Ai. "Well, look at you, Ai," Saki began in a mildly amused tone, "Trying to take charge to conquer your fears. Girls with guts like you are A-Okay in my book."

The Heisei idol zombie girl smiled a bit in appreciation as Saki flashed her a smile and a thumbs up. "Ai…has a point on how we ought to try to conquer our fears," Junko remarked, sounding a bit nervous, "If it's okay with you girls, I'd like to try driving us all back when we're done here with our camping trip in the mountains, so I can try to do some work on getting over my fears of being inside of moving vehicles."

"Just try not to scream in fear too much like what you did on the drive to the mountains," Yugiri remarked to Junko. Keeping her eyes on the Showa idol zombie girl, Yugiri continued as she gestured over to Ayumu, "We still need to fix what's wrong with Ayumu, and you screaming a lot at the top of your lungs isn't going to help the effort all that much since it makes her freeze up all the time." All of a sudden, most of the other zombie girls all looked at Yugiri like she sprouted a second head; even Tae was looking at her, although the unawakened zombie girl had no idea what was going on exactly. Only Ayumu wasn't looking at Yugiri; the teen actress zombie girl was instead looking away, towards the ground with an ashamed look on her face, her noise-canceling headphones now around her neck.

Yugiri was not blind to how (most of) her fellow undead were looking at her with looks that Yugiri rightly assumed to be accusatory. "…What?" the courtesan zombie girl asked, sounding worried that she did or said something offensive.

Lily, with a very angry looking pouty expression, scolded, "There is _nothing_ wrong with Big Sis, Yugiri! Apologize to her right now!"

Yugiri got the message that she had screwed up big time by saying that something was wrong with Ayumu. Turning to face where the teen actress zombie girl stood, Yugiri bowed her head to her and said, "My apologizes if what I said came across as offensive to you."

"Listen, Yugiri," Saki began in a mildly exasperated tone, "We all still have a few points of issue that all of us have to cover here and there." Giving Yugiri a serious look, the delinquent zombie girl continued as she pointed an accusatory finger at Yugiri, "But in all honesty, it's _you_ that we need to do the most work on by far out of all ten of us. There's a lot of differences in how things are done between the early eighteen-eighties and the late twenty-tens. One of the main goals of this camping trip is to get you in touch with how things are done in the current era."

"One such valid point," Lily continued with her same pouty expression as she crossed her arms over her chest, "Is _not_ saying things like what you said about Big Sis just now." The child actress zombie girl's comment drew a few nods in the affirmative out of some of the other zombie girls.

Nodding in understanding, Yugiri remarked in a mildly humbled tone, "I understand full well that I still need to be made aware of how things are done in the time that we all find ourselves living in." Bowing her head respectfully to her fellow undead, the courtesan zombie girl said, "I hope that you girls will be able to set me straight by the time all things are said and done."

"Heh," Sigrid scoffed as she let out a chuckle, rolling her right shoulder a bit, "I can always knock a bit of sense into you, harlot draugr."

Turning to face her half-foreign counterpart, Saki said, "Sigrid, no." Crossing her arms over her chest, the delinquent zombie girl explained in a casual tone, "That's the backup plan." Sakura was relieved, at first, when Saki seemingly was shooting down the violent idea that Sigrid was offering, only for the long-haired zombie girl to pale a bit when Saki confessed that Sigrid's plan was a backup if things came down to it.

Sakura sighed to herself in a resigned tone as she thought, "_Saki_'_s and Sigrid_'_s tendency to use physical violence as a method to solve a problem is something else that ought to be addressed on this camping trip_." Sakura gently shook her head as she and the other zombie girls got to work setting up their campsite in Mount Tenzan, hoping that some progress will be made by the girls all working together to get camp set up.

* * *

The girls were able to get their camp set up without a hitch, despite them needing to relegate Junko and Ai to keep an eye on Tae since the unawakened zombie wasn't going to be of much help, along with the fact that Kotaro was still missing in action doing Gilgamesh knows what. Indeed, the girls getting their came set up without issue was the first bit of good news they had.

…Unfortunately, that bit of good news it was immediately followed by a bit of _bad_ news. As it turned out, Yugiri, who was responsible for making sure all the right foodstuffs was packed for the trip, forgot to pack the burger patties and hot dogs, but also at the same time _somehow_ managed to remember the burger buns and hot dog buns, resulting in the fact that the girls only had buns for burgers and hot dogs. Saki was particularly annoyed that there wouldn't be a whole lot of meat for her and the rest of the girls to enjoy roasting over the campfire.

There was as also a few boxes of graham crackers along with a couple of bags of marshmallows for roasting s'mores that Sakura had packed in, but it turned out that Tae had gotten into where the s'mores supplies were kept and ate all the chocolate that Sakura had procured, meaning that the s'mores would be without chocolate. The only consumables that were brought along on the camping trip that remained untouched were the four two-liter bottles of Moonberry Cola and two two-liter bottles of Sunhoney Root Beer that Sigrid had taken the liberty of bringing along; she also brought a thing of red plastic drinking cups.

"Well this stinks," Lily pouted, her arms crossed over her chest, "Now we can't enjoy s'mores or fire-cooked burgers and hot dogs. Some camping trip this turned out to be."

"We can still roast marshmallows over the campfire," Ayumu pointed out to her child counterpart. Ayumu then pointed out to Lily how Ai, with a mildly nervous look on her face, was holding a marshmallow roasting stick with a marshmallow on the end over the campfire. The Heisei idol zombie girl, despite being mildly rattled by how she was working with the very thing that she was afraid of, was not going to let her fears conquer her.

Nodding in approval, the teen actress zombie girl said to Lily, "We can still enjoy a few classic staples of camping. Lily."

Lily let out a mildly resigned sigh as she conceded to her Big Sis's point. "I guess you're right," Lily remarked, "Sorry about pouting so much just now."

Ayumu simply nodded once in understanding, saying, "It's alright. I was also looking forward to the chocolate in the s'mores myself."

* * *

As some of the zombie girls were roasting some marshmallows at the campfire, some of the others had taken to going out into the woods to try and rustle up some meat. One such example came in the form of Junko using a makeshift fishing rod to try and catch some fish, which is where the Showa idol zombie girl was found by Sakura and Yugiri. "Might I ask what you are doing, Junko?" Yugiri asked in a curious tone, making Junko turn to see Yugiri and Sakura had come up to her.

"Ah, I'm trying to fish," Junko explained. Turning back around, Junko further explained, "It's a good role for me, as I get to sit quietly."

"I see," Sakura remarked. The long-haired zombie girl noticed the gray metal bucket sitting next to Junko. Walking up, Sakura looked into the bucket, but saw that all that was inside was enough water to make it about half-full.

Seeing that Sakura had taken a mild interest in her bucket, Junko elaborated, "I'll put any fish I catch in the bucket. The water is meant to help keep the fish good to an extent, and it helps that the water is cold."

"Sakura and I walked past Hikari a bit further up the stream," Yugiri said in a conversational tone to Junko, drawing a nod of confirmation from Sakura, "She was using a makeshift bow to fire makeshift arrows into the water for some odd reason, though."

"Bow fishing," Junko replied as she explained to the courtesan zombie girl what their gamer counterpart was up to, "It's a fishing method that some people use." Turning back to face the direction her fishing line had been cast in, Junko said with a hint of mild concern in her tone, "Although to be quite honest, I'm not so sure how successful either Hikari or I will be in our endeavors to catch some fish."

"Well keep at it, Junko," Yugiri replied, "The rest of us are counting on you and Hikari to find some measure of success."

Yugiri did not notice it when Junko scowled a bit in annoyance, given that Junko had her head turned. But Sakura was able to pick up on an annoyed hum from the Showa idol zombie girl. Sakura gently shook her head, realizing that Yugiri had unknowingly put pressure on Junko, and Hikari to an extent, to succeed in something that was more or less up to chance. "Umm, Yugiri," Sakura began when she turned to address the courtesan zombie girl, "You were kind of being a bit pressuring on Junko just now. Hikari as well to an extent."

Yugiri, her eyes widening a bit in realization, understood the point Sakura was trying to get across. "Oh, my apologies," Yugiri apologized, "I guess that me and some of the other girls wanting some form of meat is driving us a bit."

Junko let out a sigh before saying, "It's alright, Yugiri. I'm sure you didn't mean to deliberately put pressure on me to-" Junko was cut off when she felt a tug on the line of her makeshift fishing rod. She pulled it back as much as she could, and Sakura even came in to help Junko reel in the big fish that she had apparently just hooked. After a minute or so, the two zombie girls working in tandem managed to reel in a relatively large river fish.

As Junko unhooked her catch and placed it in the bucket of water, Sakura pumped a fist into the air. "Alright, Junko!" the long-haired zombie girl cheered, "You're more than just a legendary Showa era idol, you're also a legendary fisherman!"

Junko giggled a bit at the praise and good humor that Sakura was showing her. "Thanks, Sakura," Junko replied with a nod. Turning her attention back to the river, Junko continued, "I should try to catch a few more fish because, as big as the fish I just caught is, it alone won't be enough to cover all ten of us." Junko sat back down and cast her line back into the river. "If you girls would like," Junko began, "You can stay and keep me company, in case I get another catch that I need help reeling in."

"Sounds like a plan," Yugiri remarked as she and Sakura joined Junko in sitting by the river as the Showa idol zombie girl fished.

…

About thirty minutes passed since Junko caught her first fish. Since then, she caught two more that, while neither of them were as big as the first, were still relatively sizable fish nonetheless, and would go a long way to put some measure of meat in the food stores for Franchouchou on their camping trip. "Hey Yugiri," Sakura began as she and the other two girls looked over that river in the woods up on Mount Tenzan, "There's something I'm curious about."

"Oh?" Yugiri replied, her tone sounding with mildly piqued interest, "And what might it be that you're wondering about, Sakura?"

"Sorry if talking about this might make you uncomfortable," Sakura remarked in a somewhat hesitant tone, "But I was kind of curious about how you died." Seeing Yugiri's eyes widen a bit in mildly shocked surprise, Sakura let out a sigh. "I knew it," the long-haired zombie girl said in a resigned tone, "It's not something that you're-"

Yugiri held up a hand to cut off any further argument from Sakura. "No, no," Yugiri replied in an understanding tone, "It's quite alright to be curious about that." Yugiri turned her attention to look up into the air, her gaze going past the snow-laden branches of the trees overhead. "My death back when I lived in the Meiji era was not what one would say was a pleasant experience," the courtesan zombie girl began, "Granted, all methods of dying are not pleasant, but mine had a particular degree of cruelty to it…"

(FLASHBACK)

(DATE: DECEMBER 28TH, 1882)

Although as an _Oiran_ she specialized more in providing entertainment (probably why she was brought back by Kotaro as a zombie actress in the late 2010s) than straight up providing physical pleasure, Yugiri was still very much skilled at providing those pleasures, given that _Oirans_ were still technically a subgroup of prostitutes. And given the reputation Yugiri had for being at the top of her profession in the area in which she lived, men from all over would come to see her for whatever pleasures that they wanted.

To Yugiri's mildly piqued surprise, one such patron who came to pay for her services was a local lord's son. Being professional about it, Yugiri agreed to service the local lord's son, who was even kind enough to not only pay her in advance but give her more than she would have charged him in the first place. The local lord's son was also surprisingly kind and courteous to her, giving her better treatment that she would have expected from someone so far above her socially. Yugiri felt that she was going to have a rather enjoyable night, pleasuring one of the most gentlemanly patrons that she has serviced to date.

…Unfortunately for Yugiri, that night also just so happened to be the night that the local lord's jealous half-cousin, having hired a large clan of ninja, carried out a coup d'état to seize control of that province from the local lord. As Yugiri was in the middle of providing the local lord's son with the services he paid her for (Yugiri was also seriously contemplating accepting the offer she was given by the local lord's son to become his betrothed), a party consisting of four ninja, all of them bearing the symbol of the Uchiha clan on their respective persons, burst into the room.

The lone woman in the ninja party rushed forward and jabbed an ancient model kunai into the back of the local lord's son's head as he was laying on top of Yugiri, killing him instantly and making his body fall over to the side somewhat, keeping Yugiri, who was screaming in fright and horror, somewhat pinned. One of the three men in the party of ninja, this man having long but relatively straight hair that reached the tips of his shoulder blades, drew a katana out from his scabbard that he had over his back as he rushed forward.

"No witnesses," the Uchiha man said grimly as he raised his sword up and, in a single fluid motion, brought it down towards Yugiri, slicing clean through her throat to decapitate her. Yugiri did not see it since she was dead by that point, but the four ancient Uchiha ninja, seeing that their job was done, left the room without any further fanfare. It was just the local lord who ruled in that province, as well as his immediate family, that were the targets of the ninja clan hired by the local lord's jealous half-cousin.

Yugiri was killed simply because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

(FLASHBACK OVER)

Nodding somberly a bit, Yugiri said, "After we had all awoken as zombies, I have since come to learn from reading about it in history books that Kotaro has at the mansion that the event in which I was killed ended up becoming known as the Ancient Saga Coup D'état, which was one of the last major conflicts in which the Uchiha clan had taken part in prior to the founding of Konohagakure." With a resigned sigh, the courtesan zombie girl remarked, "To think that my death occurred as part of so violent a period in history."

"You…you were killed…" Sakura began, a look of mild surprise on her face, "…While you were doing the deed with someone…who was paying you for it."

Giving Sakura a mildly wry look, Yugiri pointed out, "Well I _am_ a courtesan, Sakura. Though specifically an _Oiran_, I'm still well-versed in the general aspects of the profession as a whole." The two of them looked at each other for a bit, exchanging silent looks for a while before Yugiri let out a resigned sigh. "…But I have come to understand that such aspects of my skillset are not only unnecessary in the modern day, but in some cases are actually illegal. At least my skills in regular entertainment can still be used for the actress role I now find myself doing." Yugiri then turned her attention over to Junko.

To the courtesan zombie girl's surprise, as well as the surprise of Sakura when she had also turned to look, Junko had fished up two more fish, one the general size of the second and third ones she caught and one about the same size as the first. "My goodness, Junko," Sakura said as she and Yugiri saw the Showa idol zombie girl's success in fishing, "That's a lot of fish that you had caught! This looks sufficient for all of us to eat tonight!"

"I agree," Yugiri remarked as she marveled a bit at the sheer amount of food that Junko had been able to acquire, "And this was all your fishing. Imagine what Hikari may have to throw in."

Junko nodded once as she reeled her line in. "I'm pretty much out of bait, so I think that it's a good time to pack it in for now," Junko remarked after her makeshift fishing rod was reeled in. Standing up, Junko used her left hand (the right one held her rod) to pick up her bucket of fish. "We ought to go check on Hikari before we all head back to camp," Junko said, "Then we can all head back as a group." Sakura and Yugiri both nodded in agreement as they proceeded to follow Junko back to camp.

* * *

As the three of them made their way back to camp, Sakura, Yugiri and Junko came across Hikari. Using her bow fishing method, she had successfully shot a total of seven fish, two more than Junko. However, she didn't get any really big ones like Junko, so it could be debated on which one between the Showa idol and gamer zombie girls had better luck in fishing. Either way, the girls of Franchouchou had plenty of fish; Yugiri even made the comment that Saki and Sigrid, the resident tough girls of their group, would probably lay claim to the two big fish that Junko had caught. It was a point that none of the others were necessarily going to argue.

"There is still much that I have to learn about the time that all of us now find ourselves living in," Yugiri remarked aloud as she, Sakura, Junko and Hikari made their way back to camp, "But I'm starting to understand a few of the points that you girls and the others have made about me in regards to things I've done or said that don't sit right with all of you. I'm still, as Kotaro would probably say, a 'work in progress', but I would like to think that I've learned at least a few of the things that you girls and the others are trying to get across to me."

"Like how it's in very bad taste to say out loud something that's along the lines of how there's something wrong with an autistic person?" Hikari remarked somewhat dryly, "And while said person is within earshot, no less?"

Yugiri, seemingly looking like she was a bit humbled, nodded once as she replied, "Yes, Hikari. I now understand that there are just some things that are at the height of rudeness to say."

"You also have to stop it with your habit of slapping people across the face while they're having an epiphany before telling them what they themselves are already coming to realize," Junko said, "That little habit of yours is one of the big reasons why Sigrid gets as heated as she does towards you." The courtesan zombie girl nodded in agreement with Junko, as well as looking a bit on the rattled side by being given a reminder on how she (Yugiri) isn't exactly the half-foreign zombie girl's favorite person in the world right now.

As she and the girls got close to camp, Sakura remarked, "Well I think that our camping trip has been a major success so far. Yugiri has learned some of what the rest of us have been wanting her to learn, and with another day or two, I firmly believe that Hey wait a minute, why does the air smell like someone's roasting pork over an open fire?" The long-haired zombie girl went off track midsentence when she caught the smell of someone roasting pork or other meat that came from a pig over a fire. Yugiri, Junko and Hikari also caught that smell as well, a smell that only got stronger when the four girls got closer to camp.

…

To the surprise of Sakura and the others, a notably large wild boar was laying off to the side of Franchouchou's camp near the same rock formation Lily was laying against earlier. The large boar was very clearly dead, and chunks of it were carved off. Looking over to the campfire which Sakura and the other returning girls saw had been upgraded a bit from a simple campfire to an open bonfire at least as big as the one from the beach party, they saw a roasting spit with chunks of boar meat was slowly being turned over the now larger fire, the meat sizzling in a very alluring manner that Sakura would admit stirred some hunger in her.

Saki, with Ai standing by to help her, was turning the roasting spit, a look of amusement on the delinquent zombie girl's face. A few of the other zombie girls sat around the fire but not close enough to bother Saki while she was cooking; the returning zombie girls saw Lily take a bite out of a roasted pork chunk placed in a burger bun, and Sigrid was seen taking a bite out of some roasted meat on a leg bone, before chasing it down with a large gulp from a cup of some of the Moonberry Cola that she had brought along on the camping trip.

"Umm…" Sakura began in a mildly surprised tone, alerting the rest of Franchouchou that she, Yugiri, Junko and Hikari had returned. Gesturing to what was going on in front of her, the long-haired zombie girl asked, "…What all is this? What are you girl doing?"

"Spit-roasting some meat from the boar that Sigrid and I killed," Saki replied.

"Eating a pork burger," Lily said.

"Eating roasted haunch of boar," Sigrid answered. The half-foreign zombie girl's interest was piqued when she saw the combined twelve fish that Junko and Hikari had caught between them. Sigrid pointed this out to Saki, who grinned a bit more in amusement.

"Well alright, girls," Saki remarked, "You got us some fish as well. That will go nicely if any of us don't want pork."

As Junko and Hikari sat their caught fish down, Sakura gestured to Saki as she said, "What I would like to know is why and how you and Sigrid even killed a boar."

"Funny story," Saki replied as she turned her attention back to the meat she was currently spit-roasting, "While you, Yugiri, Junko and Hikari were off, that boar-" Saki paused to gesture to the dead boar laying over at the rock formation, "-Randomly wandered over towards our camp and tried to bother both Ayumu and Shrimpy. I jumped in front of it and grabbed it by its tusks while Sigrid was attacking it from behind with the shovel that we brought. After a couple of moments, while I was still gripping its tusks, I turned the boar's head like I would the wheel of a car that I was driving. I ended up twisting the boar's head so much I snapped it neck, killing it."

Lily giggled a bit as she kicked her feet while sitting, enjoying the pork burger she was eating. "Serves that mean boar right," the child actress zombie girl remarked before taking another bite out of her meal.

Sakura and the other returning zombie girls did not quite know what to make of all that they had been told went down in their absence, although Junko, after getting over the initial shock at least, failed to be surprised by the fact that the resident tough girls of Franchouchou managed to kill a wild boar, making her feel that her efforts in fishing were now a bit redundant. As Sakura and the others settled down back at the camp, she, Junko and Hikari told the others that they had been successful to a degree in making the necessary progress with Yugiri. This had drawn some cheers from the other zombie girls.

"Well alright, Egghead!" Saki remarked, "I'm glad to hear that this little trip of yours ended up proving to be a good idea! Just wait until we tell Shades that we've finally managed to get through to Yugiri to an extent!"

"Hey, that reminds me," Hikari began as she looked around the camp, "Kotaro is still missing in action." Looking back to her fellow undead, the gamer zombie girl asked, "Where exactly did he go off to, and what exactly is he up to?"

…

While still on Mount Tenzan but a good bit away from the girls of Franchouchou, Kotaro was in the middle of gathering up some snow, packing it together, then packing that onto what must have been a larger pile of snow, or something that he was making out of snow. As he worked, the eccentric man hummed a little song to himself. After a few more packs onto the large snow structure that he was building, Kotaro decided that he was finished, so he backed up a few steps to take a look at his work.

"Ah," Kotaro remarked in a satisfied tone as he beheld what he had made, "Nothing short of absolutely flawless." A quick turn to see things from Kotaro's point of view revealed what he had been building out of snow while away from the zombie girls; surprisingly, it looked like he had made a statue that resembles ancient stone-carved statues from long dead/forgotten civilizations. Specifically, the snow statue that Kotaro had built resembled a statue from the ancient Sumerian civilization of what they thought the demigod Gilgamesh looks like.

Kotaro held his left fist over his chest while stretching his right fist straight up into the air. "All glory to the great hero Gilgamesh," the eccentric man said to himself as he performed his action in front of the snow statue that he had built in the woods on Mount Tenzan. A sudden gust of wind that blew through that area tried to make Kotaro's alpine hat fly off, but Kotaro quickly and skillfully caught his hat, saving him the trouble of having to pick it back up from off of the snowy ground. "Whew, that was a close one," Kotaro said to himself.

* * *

The morning after the girls and Kotaro all got back from the camping trip up to Mount Tenzan, Sakura could be seen writing something in her journal. By the time she was found like this, she was just about done; indeed, after a few more lines, Sakura stopped and closed her journal up before putting it away. With her writing done, the long-haired zombie girl made her way down to the ground floor of the abandoned mansion, where her fellow undead would be having breakfast in the kitchen.

By the time that Sakura had entered the kitchen, she saw that the other girls were all in deep discussion with one another; the exception was Tae, as she was off to the side mindlessly chewing on some dried squid snack. Seeing how talkative and seemingly worried the others were, Sakura could not help but have her interest piqued. "Hey girls," Sakura greeted, getting the others to all look up and notice her, "What's going on?"

In response, Hikari pulled out her smartphone, used it to find any news report related to what had her and the other zombie girls all up in a tizzy, and showed the screen to Sakura. "There was some big attack over at the Shirayuki Ski Resort and Lodge," the gamer zombie girl explained, "Believe it or not, a bunch of large, muscular humanoid monsters attacked the place, causing all sorts of damage in their efforts to find the wife and daughter of Hatsuharu Shirayuki."

"Wait, wait, wait…" Sakura said, getting Hikari to slow down. Giving Hikari a questioning look, the long-haired zombie girl said, "What do you mean '_monsters_'?"

Going back to her smartphone, Hikari said, "According to what was gathered, the large muscular humanoids weren't overly brutal bodybuilders, they are all straight up monsters, like what you'd see in fairy tales. Specifically, the large muscular monsters were all identified as orcs, ogres and trolls." Looking up from her smartphone and back to Sakura, Hikari said, "Remember back when we were all learning to use monster glamour, and Kotaro said that zombies are one of the races of monsters?" Gesturing to her phone, Hikari said, "Well, I guess that a whole bunch more races have just cropped up."

"It wasn't just those large muscular brutes that attacked the ski resort and lodge that turned out to be monsters," Lily spoke up from where she sat over at the counter table with Ayumu, "You see, at the time of the muscular monsters' attack on the ski resort, a local high school called Azu-Daioh High was having a field trip there. Azu-Daioh High is the high school that had recently received the mass influx of students from Yokai Academy, which had to vacate their school for a while as repairs and fumigation was taken care of."

"And as it turns out," Saki spoke up, "All of the students from Yokai Academy are various kinds of monsters!" Listing things off of the tips of her fingers, the delinquent zombie girl said, "There were a few witches spotted, a vampire, something called a succubus, some snow fairies, a Yasha, a Crow Tengu, a werewolf, something called a Jiang Shi, and there was even a friggin' _dragon_!" Giving Sakura a serious look, Saki said, "I knew that, as zombies, we were some kind of monster since that what Shades told us, but he completely failed to mention what _other_ kinds of monsters are out there!"

Nodding in agreement, Ai said, "According to what sources say on the matter, the rest of the people at the resort at the time were going to keep quiet on the matter out of gratitude for the monster students from Yokai Academy saving them." With a sigh, the Heisei idol zombie girl said, "However, two human students at Azu-Daioh High, called Tomo and Osaka, ended up revealing everything when Osaka posted a video clip she recorded, while Tomo took to getting the word spread after the video came out."

"You…you've got to be kidding me," Sakura said, looking very much alarmed as she took a step back. When she had first awoken as a zombie, Sakura had thought that zombies such as her and the rest of the Franchouchou girls were the biggest deal out there in terms of monsters. But now she and her fellow undead, as well as the rest of Japan and quite possibly the rest of the world at large, are now aware that there are other things out there that can go bump in the night.

"Oh, Sakura," Yugiri began, "There might be something in the local paper about what went down at that ski resort, but the paper wasn't brought in yet. Would you kindly go get it?"

Sakura nodded once in agreement as she turned around while activating her monster glamour; even though the monster masquerade was, for the most part, undone by those large muscular monsters attacking the ski resort and the sub sequent postings of those Tomo and Osaka girls, nobody had it for certain that the girls of Franchouchou were zombies. As far as Japan at large was aware, Sakura and her fellow undead actresses were all still human. As such, the long-haired zombie girl figured that Kotaro, despite what had happened, would still want the girls to keep it up with the 'pretend to be human' thing for as long as can be managed.

…

Sakura, after she ran out the front door of the abandoned mansion, ran out the front gate, hoping to find the morning paper. She spotted it, rolled up and tucked into a semi-transparent peach-colored plastic bag. Smiling to herself, Sakura dashed over to the morning paper, bent over to grab it, then straightened herself back out when she had the morning paper in her hands. "There we go," Sakura said to herself, "Now all I have to do is-"

*SCREEEEEECH*

*WHABAM*

*CRACK*

*KAHTHUD*

Due to a mix of Sakura not paying attention to her surroundings and a person driving a white truck somewhat recklessly in that part of the neighborhood, Sakura was, in an instance of déjà vu, hit dead-on by a large vehicle, sent flying as a result. She landed with a thud on the ground as the truck driver, panicking over having hit someone, quickly drove away before he or she could have been seen at the scene of the crime.

Sakura was not vanquished by that hit and run, but she was knocked out, laying prone on the ground just outside of the abandoned mansion. Romero the zombie Japanese Chin came walking out from the gate, spotted Sakura laying on the ground knocked out, and dashed over to her. He sniffed at the knocked out long-haired zombie girl before pawing gently at her forehead. Romero whined a bit in a clearly worried tone before yapping a few times, hoping that his efforts would have some success in rousing Sakura.

TO BE CONTINUED…

END, SAGA STORIES CHAPTER ELEVEN

Author's notes:

Yugiri will still have a hiccup or two here and there, but for the time being, she's not going to do or say most things that would have otherwise taken place if it were not for this chapter. Likewise, Yugiri will no longer slap people across the face while they are having epiphanies and tell them what they were already in the middle of saying, a habit of hers from the series proper that, with all due respect, I am by no means a fan of. Yugiri is not exactly perfect, but a good bit of her rough patches have been smoothed over in this chapter; a few more ought to give her enough time to (reasonably) fix the rest.

As a side note, it should have been obvious by now that 'Saga Stories' is part of a much larger setting than what the girls of Franchouchu were aware of. …At least before the tail end of this chapter. The attack at the snow lodge mentioned near the end here is an event that takes place in my Rosario Vampire story, a world that has made a few showing here and there thus far. That connection, believe it or not, is actually rather important to 'Saga Stories', as it will be playing a very big role later down the line, especially after Sakura has her special time in the spotlight. For those who are worried about when Sakura will have said time, don't worry.

It'll be in the next chapter.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own Zombie Land Saga, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Saga Stories: A tale of Zombie Land Saga

Chapter twelve: Regaining what was lost

"Okay, then…" Saki began, the hint of strained exasperation in her tone rather obvious as she, along with Ai, Junko, Lily, Yugiri, Tae, Sigrid, Ayumu and Hikari, all stood around the unconscious Sakura in their zombie forms while Sakura was in her human form due to having monster glamour up at the time she was knocked out, who laid on top of one of the rolled-out futons in the futon room of the abandoned mansion. Earlier that morning, as the girls were talking about something big that went down over at the Shirayuki ski resort and lodge, Sakura at Yugiri's request, had run out of the mansion to see if the morning paper came yet.

…It was then that Sakura was hit dead-on by a vehicle of some sort, knocking her out instantly and sending her flying a bit until she landed on the ground and just laid there. Sakura was soon found by Romero the zombie Japanese Chin, and he pawed at her forehead while whining in a worried tone for a good few minutes until the long-haired zombie girl was found by Saki, who scooped her up, brought her back into the abandoned mansion, and laid her out on the futon that she was on. Fun fact, it was actually Saki's futon that Sakura was laid on, but that's another bit for another time.

Given the time Sakura had left when she was sent by Yugiri to try and recover the morning paper and the time Saki found Sakura being watched over by Romero, Hikari estimated that Sakura had been laying outside for at least a good ten minutes or so until she was discovered by Saki and sub sequentially brought inside, with Romero trotting along after the delinquent zombie girl. As it stood, Romero was currently sitting next to Saki on her right, whining as he and the zombie girls all looked over the knocked-out Sakura.

Gesturing to where Sakura laid, Saki said in her continuing strained tone of exasperation, "…Why the hell did we allow something like this to happen to Egghead? It's bad enough that she doesn't remember anything of her life prior to becoming a zombie. What if getting hit like she did also erases from her head what she's done since she awakened?" Scoffing as she crossed her arms over her chest, Saki remarked, "I am _not_ looking forward to having to try to re-explain everything to her."

"In our defense, Saki," Yugiri began as she faced Saki while gesturing to where Sakura laid, "None of us could have predicted Sakura here getting struck by a vehicle while she was fetching the morning paper." The courtesan zombie girl let out a resigned sigh as her expression shifted to likewise show some degree of guilt. "…I suppose that, if anything, that I am at fault here," Yugiri said, "If it had not been for me asking Sakura to go see if the morning paper had come in yet, then she would not have been struck by a vehicle and rendered unconscious."

Ai and Junko both turned to face Yugiri, who stood next to Saki as all of the zombie girls stood around their unconscious troop-mate and friend. "Yugiri, you said it yourself," Ai pointed out, "There was no predicting that Sakura would get hit by a vehicle. You shouldn't go beating up yourself over something you had no control over."

"I'm going to have to side with Ai on this one," the Showa idol zombie girl remarked, "Things are simply out of our control sometimes. We shouldn't be upset, or try to assign or take blame, when there's nothing along those lines to do." Yugiri, as she faced the idol zombie girls, smiled a bit in an appreciative manner.

"…Thanks for trying to reassure me, girls," Yugiri remarked, thankful that some of her fellow undead weren't using any and every excuse that could be rustled up to jump down her throat.

Gesturing with her right had to where Sakura laid on Saki's futon, Lily said, "We should tell Kotaro about what happened as soon as he gets back from whatever it is that he's out doing right now. I'm pretty sure he'll know how to fix this."

Saki let out an exasperated sigh before saying, "Once again, Shades is off doing who knows what at who knows where at a time where we could use his crazy ass for once." Gently shaking her head, the delinquent zombie girl said, "I just hope that whatever it is that Shades is doing is a hell of a lot more important than Egghead's injury here…"

…

Kotaro was holding his right hand over his chin as he held his right elbow with his left hand, a look of serious contemplation on his face. The eccentric man gave a hum of deep consideration as he looked at what sat before him. "…I must select the best option," Kotaro said aloud but to himself, "There will be no going back once I make my move." Seeing things from Kotaro's point of view would show what he was contemplating.

He was looking at two bottles of scented shampoos for men, one that was ocean breeze scented and one that was some sort of vanilla scented. Kotaro deeply considered the two scents of shampoo that sat before him on the shelf in the hygiene aisle at the local grocery store, having already stood there considering the two men's shampoo options for at least the last ten minutes up to this point.

And given how staunch he looked as he stood there, Kotaro probably wasn't going to be moving anytime soon. "…Gilgamesh, give me guidance in making the right choice," Kotaro muttered to himself as he was stuck in trying to make his decision on what shampoo to get.

…

Gently shaking her head, Saki scoffed. "Bah, forget that idiot," the delinquent zombie girl said as she waved a hand in a dismissive gesture, "If he's off playing tidily-wings in Bumfuck City, Mexico or whatever, then to hell with him. We'll figure out something to do to get Egghead back up to snuff in next to-"

Saki was cut off when she, as well as the rest of the zombie girls that weren't unconscious, heard some moaning coming from Sakura. Looking down, they all saw her stir a bit as she laid on Saki's futon, a sign that the long-haired zombie girl was starting to come to. The rest of the girls of Franchouchou all let out sighs of relief, Saki especially. After a few seconds of stirring in her slumber, Sakura finally opened her eyes and, as such, saw the girls all looking down at her.

"Egghead!" Saki said in a bit of a cheering tone, "Boy, am I glad to see that you're finally-"

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sakura screamed at the top of her lungs in very obvious fright as she shot right up to her feet and ran as far as she could to get away from the zombie girls. This action confused the other girls and causes worry to some; Sakura's screaming at so high a volume also made Ayumu cower a bit as she covered her ears with her hands.

The others had no idea of what to make of seeing Sakura act in such a manner as they watched her press her back up against the wall along where the fireplace in the futon room was located. As she stood there, Sakura, in something of a panic, felt for something, anything, which she could grab, as if she wanted a weapon to defend herself from the undead that she saw standing before her, as if she was unaware that she was an undead herself. As such, the long-haired zombie girl ended up grabbing onto the handle of a fireplace poker. With her improvised weapon in hand, Sakura held it in front of herself as if it were a sword, ready to fight back against the approaching undead if absolutely necessary.

The instant she saw Sakura swing up that fireplace poker, Ai held the sides of her head with her hands, a look of frightened panic on her face, as she turned to face away from Sakura. As she and the other girls looked at the panicking Sakura, a look of realization flashed across Saki's face as something dawned on her. "…Aww geez," the delinquent zombie girl said in a troubled tone of realization, "I think her memory's been scrambled." This comment from Saki drew surprised looks from most of the other girls; Ai even stopped cowering in panic when she heard what Saki had just said.

"H-hey, Sakura," Junko began in a concerned tone, "Are you okay?"

Sakura panted a bit as she tried to catch her breath, having been rattled by seeing so many undead. A resigned look appeared on her face as her grip on the fireplace poker went slack, then the fireplace poker slipped from her grasp entirely, clattering to the floor as a result of being dropped. "I…I can't do it anymore…" Sakura said in a resigned, somewhat depressed tone as she slipped to her knees, "…It doesn't matter what I do…nothing I do is good enough. Mom and Sasuke were right. All that I've succeeded in doing is wasting Nikuko-sensei's time…"

The other girls of Franchouchou were worried about their long-haired companion and troop-mate. "…Geez," Saki said in a worried tone as she crossed her arms over her chest, "What can we do to help Egghead here?"

"Maybe a good slap might bring her back to her true self?" Yugiri suggested as she began to raise her right hand back.

"I thought we agreed that you would cease doing that, harlot draugr," Sigrid snarled in an annoyed tone when she turned to face the courtesan zombie girl.

Gently shaking her head, Yugiri explained, "No, I am not about to steal an epiphany from Sakura. She isn't even having one anyway." Gesturing to Sakura, Yugiri explained, "Giving someone a good slap to the face has been known to help others come to their senses."

Holding a hand up to hold Yugiri back from delivering a slap, Ai said, "I'm going to have to ask that you belay that slap, Yugiri. I think that I have an idea about what's going-"

Ai was cut off when Tae rushed forward, drifting a bit on all fours as she slightly overshot her landing, before turning a bit and jumping right at the prone Sakura, who looked too tired and resigned to whatever fate may have in store for her at this point to even try getting up and getting herself out of there.

"…_I_'_m incapable of doing anything right_…" Sakura thought as she saw Tae rush at her before the unawakened zombie girl collided into her, knocking her back out.

* * *

A few moments later, Sakura came to again. By now, her monster glamour had turned off on its own for some odd reason, revealing that Sakura was still very much one of the undead. When she opened her eyes, Sakura gasped a bit as she propped herself up into a sitting position on the floor of the room she was now in. Sitting across from her, Sakura spotted Ai, who was using monster glamour to appear human.

"…What in the name of Amaterasu just happened…" Sakura muttered to herself as she gently shook her head. After a few seconds, Sakura finally noticed that Ai was sitting next to her.

"Ah, good, you're awake," Ai remarked.

Sakura looked at the Heisei idol zombie girl for a few moments, as if trying to remember something. "…Hey, hang on a minute," the long-haired zombie girl began. Pointing her right index finger at Ai, Sakura asked in a mildly curious and surprised tone, "Aren't you Ai Mizuno, the center performer for the idol group Iron Frill?"

Ai's eyes widened a bit out of piqued interest by what Sakura had just asked her, but she decided to put that to the side for the time being. "Look," Ai began, "I don't suppose that you remember what you name is, do you?"

Sakura was a bit surprised that someone as famous as Iron Frill's center performer was asking her if she remembered her name. "My…" Sakura said, still a bit confused as to exactly what was going on, "…Name?" After a second, Sakura replied, "Yes. My name's Sakura Minamoto." Ai then asked Sakura if she also remembered her address, phone number and family, all of which the long-haired zombie girl replied in the affirmative, even going so far as to say that her father worked a post job abroad so it was usually just her, her mother and her three-year-old younger brother Sasuke.

"I see…" Ai remarked as she considered all of the pieces that were starting to fall in place for her. After a few moments of consideration, Ai turned to look directly at Sakura. "Sakura, look, here's what's going on," Ai began in a serious tone, getting Sakura's full attention, "I can tell you everything that has happened, but I need you to stay calm for everything. A lot of what I have to say may rattle you a bit, but I need you to bear with me." Letting out a resigned sigh, Ai said, "The first big thing that I need to go over with you is the fact that you're now a zombie."

Sakura just looked at Ai for a few silent moments, staring right into the Heisei idol zombie's eyes. After a few seconds had passed in silence, Sakura said, "…Que?" Gently shaking her head, Sakura said, "That's a pretty funny joke. I didn't know the girls of Iron Frill were into jokes like that. But then again, I've been more geared towards following popular actresses rather than idols. Ayumu Akarui is especially popular right now."

Ai placed her right hand on Sakura's left should, a gesture that got Sakura to take pause and give her full attention over. "…Eleven years ago," Ai began with a hint more seriousness in her tone, "You died. I have no idea how, though."

Sakura's eyes widened a bit in surprise. She looked at her hand, saw that the flesh on her hand, as well as her arm that trailed from her hand, was a grayish-blue color instead of a healthy living shade. Sakura gasped in shock as her eyes widened a bit more, with a memory of her being hit by a bluish van crossing her mind at that moment. Sakura clearly recalled as she was sent flying for a bit, up until she landed on the ground with a sickening thud.

A single trail of nervous sweat (she was surprised that she could even do that) streaked down Sakura's forehead as the enormity of everything began to hit her.

* * *

The other zombie girls were in the dance studio room as they waited around for Ai to try and do what she could for Sakura. "What's going to happen with Sakura now?" the child actress zombie girl asked in a worried tone as she turned to face the older undead girls, "I'm really worried about her, everyone."

"We need to have faith that Ai will have some measure of success with Sakura," Yugiri said in a reassuring tone, "Just give her time."

Saki, over where she leaned next to Sigrid against one of the walls in the dance studio, pounded a fist into her hand. "Of all the times for Shades to be off doing fuck knows what at fuck knows where," Saki growled in an annoyed tone, "It just _had_ to be when Egghead's got a serious issue with her memory." At that moment, the door leading into the dance studio opened, drawing the attention of the zombie girls inside. As such, they saw Ai enter the room.

"What's the prognosis, Ai?" Lily asked when she and some of the others walked up to the Heisei idol zombie girl, "Is Sakura okay?"

Ai breathed in through her nose, gathering her nerve before she told her fellow undead what was going on exactly. "…Yes and no," Ai began, "You see, although Sakura is physically fine, well, as physically fine as she can be for someone who is undead, getting hit by that truck outside earlier made all of her memories from when she was still alive all come right back to her." This made the other zombie girls gasp in shock, but they were thrown for a real loop by what Ai had to tell them next.

"Furthermore," Ai went on, "Sakura ended up losing all of her memories from when she first woke up as a zombie."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me…" Saki said, a bit too stunned by what she heard to be her usual brash and bold self.

The Heisei idol zombie girl nodded a few times in agreement. "I tried to explain a few things to her," Ai went on, "About how all of us are undead, and how we're all in Franchouchou as well as what Franchouchou is exactly." Ai pushed the door open to the side a little bit more, revealing that Sakura was standing there. Turning to face Sakura, Ai said, "Hey, these are the other girls that I was telling out about from before."

Sakura gasped a bit in shock as she looked into the room, seeing so many of (what she now knows to be) her fellow undead. When Sakura's eyes fell on her, Lily asked, "You mean to say that you really don't remember any of us, Sakura?"

Sakura was a bit taken aback before she looked down to the floor at her side a bit. "…No, I don't," the long-haired zombie girl admitted in a resigned, troubled tone.

"Hold on," Saki said, clear concern and worry in her tone, "Does this mean that she can't act in 'Saga Stories' anymore?"

"And the elfish man did say that we're about to begin work on filming for the finale for season one," Sigrid remarked, her arms crossed over her chest as she leaned against the one wall in the dance studio.

"Hang on…" Sakura said in a mildly troubled tone, "…Saga Stories? Finale for season one?" Turning to face Ai, Sakura asked, "What…what exactly is going on here?"

Giving Sakura a serious look, Ai began to explain, "Us girls, who make up Franchouchou, are the cast for Saga Stories, a new but popular TV show that premiered a short while back. We're gearing up to begin work on shooting the finale for season one. We've also been greenlit for a second season, as what Kotaro told us, so it's all the more reason for us to get the season one finale ready to air."

Sakura let out a mildly surprised sigh as she considered everything that she had been told up until now. "…Look, Sakura," Ai continued, "I know that you must be rather confused, but all of us have worked really hard on bringing 'Saga Stories' to fruition. You've worked hard on it as well, probably harder than any other three of us combined. I know that you're confused and have no recollection right now, but I know that you'll be ready when the time comes to get to work with the rest of us."

The long-haired zombie girl stood there as a few more flashes of memories from her past crossed her mind, one of which was an envelope that she was planning to take to her to an audition to become an actress on a production that Nikuko-sensei was working on. "_Wow_," Sakura thought, a bit humbled by the weight of realizing what Ai and the other girls in the room were talking about, "_I guess I really did accomplish my dream of becoming an actress_." …However, another memory of Sakura's flashed across her mind, one where she was hit by that bluish van that was the reason she died a little over a decade ago.

Sakura, with a troubled, resigned and somewhat depressed look on her face, looked away from her fellow undead, her gaze on the floor to her side. "…No," Sakura said in a lame tone, "You girls ought to do it without me."

"Oh come on, Egghead," Saki said, "I'm sure it will all come right back to you if you get a little practice in. You'll be back up to snuff in next to flat."

"…I said I can't…" Sakura replied, a hint more firmness in her tone.

"You don't know unless you try," the delinquent zombie girl retorted.

Sakura, getting a bit frustrated, snapped, "I said I don't want to!" Sighing a bit, Sakura lamented, "Me and succeeding…don't exactly go hand in hand. I just don't have what it takes."

Saki's eyes widened a bit as Sakura's words sunk in. "Have what it takes…?" Saki repeated, sounding like what she was hearing didn't quite sit right with her, "What do you mean by that?"

"…No matter what I do," Sakura began as she looked straight down at her feet with a downcast expression, "Everything that I try to do, everything I try to do to succeed in, always blows up in my face. It's like the world itself has no desire to see me do well at anything at all." Bowing her head to her fellow undead, Sakura simply said, "Sorry," before turning around and leaving.

"Hey, wait!" Saki said as she called out to the long-haired zombie girl, a troubled look on her face as she was worrying all the more about Sakura. Saki was not the only zombie girl that was troubled by what Sakura was going through right now, either; Ai, Junko, Lily and Ayumu were more worried than most, if going by how all of the girls of Franchouchou looked.

Letting out a troubled sigh, Junko said, "And just when she was reaching the end of the first season with us, too."

"Indeed," Yugiri remarked, "This is a rather troublesome development."

Turning to face where those girls stood, Saki said, "Now's not exactly the time, you two! If I didn't know any better, I'd say that Sakura just resigned from Franchouchou!" The girls all exchanged concerned looks between the lot of them, worried about this latest blip in their goals as an entire actress troop.

* * *

Later that evening, Kotaro was sitting at a bar, one that was more western in nature than the traditional Japanese bar he was at previously. A shopping bag containing a bottle of shampoo and a few other personal care products sat on the floor at his feet as he sat on a stool at the bar. Kotaro took a sip from his sake cup as the bartender, a man with long grayish hair and a moustache, came walking over as he polished a drinking glass. "So, how goes that little project of yours," the bartender said, "What did you call it now…The expanded universe project?"

"The 'Saga Stories' project," Kotaro corrected with a troubled sigh.

"Mmm," the bartender said, "So that's what it was called." Pointing casually at Kotaro, the bartender said, "Just don't go doing anything wrong by Yugiri. I still owe her a hell of a lot from way back when." The bartender shrugged a bit before adding, "Although even I will admit that girl needs at least some work."

Kotaro just sat there in silence, contemplating his near-empty sake cup for a bit before pouring a bit more in. "…Just how old are you, exactly?" Kotaro asked.

"Old enough," the bartender replied cryptically. Blowing out a whistle, the bartender said, "Man, I had some good times back then."

"Is it so wise to dwell on days gone by?" Kotaro asked as the bartender took a bite out of what seemed to be a tentacle from a bag of dried squid snack.

The bartender growled a bit as he ripped a piece off of the thing of dried squid snack he was eating. "…Excuse me Mr. Kettle, but Mrs. Pot called," the bartender snarked, "She asked me to tell you for her that you're black." Kotaro did not respond, not that he necessarily wanted to, mind you. All that he could think of was days from his past way back when, well before he had ended up as the eccentric man that he is today.

The pot calling the kettle black, indeed.

* * *

The other girls of Franchouchou were still milling about the dance studio room, all of them in something of a funk over Sakura's actions due to her losing her memories since she had first come to as a zombie. "Man, this suck big major ass," Saki remarked in a resigned tone as she laid face-up on the floor, "I can't really get into much of anything right now. I just don't have it in me, you know?"

"Girls," Lily began in a worried tone that sounded like Lily might start crying at any moment, "Do you think that Sakura might forget me forever?"

The others weren't too entirely sure, given how they were all feeling; even Tae, who was still unawakened, had enough wherewithal to have some idea what was going on. As such, her moaning sounded a bit on the resigned side of things.

"Look, everyone," Ai began, "I know that this is upsetting, but we have to remain strong. If we don't, then everything we're working on will fall apart at the seams." Tapping a fist into her hand, Ai continued, "The show has to go on. It's not like our viewers are aware of anything that goes on behind the scenes for us."

The other zombie girls looked to Ai, giving her various looks. Gesturing to the Heisei idol zombie girl, Hikari remarked somewhat dryly, "You speak as if everything is going to turn out A-Okay for us, Ai."

Giving her fellow undead a confident smile, Ai remarked, "That's because it is going to all be okay, Hikari. We've just got to have faith in Sakura, is all."

The other zombie girls had no idea what to make of Ai trying to reassure all of them. The other girls of Franchouchou still had their worries about the long-haired zombie girl; Lily whined a bit as she sat on the floor, Junko looked deeply concerned as she sat on a folding chair in the dance studio room, and even Tae moaned a bit in atone similar to that which Lily was currently using. Saki, as the leader of Franchouchou, was the most worried about Sakura, thus compelling her to want to set things right as soon as possible.

* * *

Later, as the girls all laid in their futons as they tried to sleep, most of them had trouble dozing off due to worried over Sakura. Only Tae (due to her mindlessness), Ayumu (who very much liked keeping to a schedule), Sigrid and Yugiri were all fast asleep, with Tae even snoring a bit. As for the others, they were still awake. Saki in particular had an annoyed grimace on her face as she stared right up at the ceiling in the futon room.

"…Man, this sucks," Saki said quietly to herself, "Egghead's gotten one hell of a raw deal here. First she doesn't remember anything from when she still used to be alive, and now she got back all of her living memories but lost her unliving memories in return." Letting out a resigned sigh, the delinquent zombie girl continued saying quietly to herself, "I really wish she would come back to being the girl we all know her as. The girl that eagerly threw herself into becoming an actress, the girl who went through such lengths to help the rest of us whenever any of the rest of us had our own troubles, the girl who like to write about all of her exploits in that little-"

Saki stopped short in her quiet mutterings to herself as her eyes widened in surprise as a look of realization spread across her face. Getting up from her futon, Saki walked over to a bin that was on one of the shelves in the bookshelf in the futon room; it was a bin roughly the size of a small trash can, and it was a solid plastic pink color. A light purple strip of construction paper that had Sakura's name on it was taped to the front of the bin.

Saki pulled the bin out from the shelf a bit to look into the bin. What she saw were all of Sakura's belongings; there were some clothes such as Sakura's Drive-In Tori t-shirt, a few little odds and ends, but Saki ignored all of that. The delinquent zombie girl rummaged through the bin of Sakura's belongings for a few moments until she found what she was looking for; a hand-written journal that the long-haired zombie girl kept.

Taking the journal out, Saki flipped it open to the first page and read the first entry, which went over Sakura waking up and being scared out of the mansion by the other girls, who were all unawakened at the time. The first entry finished with something on how Sakura was waiting for Kotaro to set things up so that she could play out a scene in the tail end of the series premiere episode where she woke up in bed from a zombie nightmare.

Saki read on, going over more and more of Sakura's writings; Sakura wrote about how she was rather embarrassed by her losing herself when she got into that rap battle against Junko back at Saga castle, she wrote about how the girls all filmed a commercial for that hot springs and soon after learned about Ayumu being autistic, she wrote how she was amused by how happy Saki herself was when they did the commercial for Drive-In Tori…

The delinquent zombie girl was actually rather amazed that Sakura had written so much about what she had done since first awakening as a zombie. Sakura's journal covered pretty much _everything_ that Saki was awakened for, as well as a few things from before Saki had awoken as a zombie. The long-haired zombie girl even wrote about how she admired all of her fellow undead, as well as what all about them that she liked (as well as a point or two there that she didn't like all that much, such as Yugiri's now-dropped habits getting on her nerves and how she was scared by how Saki and Sigrid can both be a little violent from time to time).

Saki was further surprised to see what all Sakura thought about them, that despite their flaws, the girls of Franchouchou were, as a whole, a team effort, and that she was glad to be a part of it, glad to be a part of being able to finally achieve her dream of becoming an actress, not caring that she had to be raised from the dead as a zombie in order to accomplish said dream, and that she had lost her memories from when she was still a living being.

…Until now, that is, Saki realized as she gently closed Sakura's journal. Saki had to admit that Sakura made a good point on how she (Saki) had a tendency to favor violence as a solution, but Sakura still cared deeply about her, about all of the girls of Franchouchou. Saki wanted nothing more right now than to get back the somewhat ditzy but still lovable Egghead that had helped to bring all of them together over the times since they had awakened.

Looking at the journal that she held in her hands, Saki got an idea on something that may work.

…

Sakura was sitting alone in a room that was barricaded off to keep others from getting inside, but that did not stop a former Kamikaze squad leader like Saki. After a bare minimal amount of effort, Saki was able to tear down the pathetic excuse of a barricade that Sakura had set up to try and keep others away from her. Sakura looked over when she heard her barrier being torn down piece by piece, just before Saki made her way into the room.

Giving Saki a resigned, mildly depressed look, Sakura said, "I don't really care what you have to say. I'm not going to change my-"

Saki, who walked over gently to Sakura with a worried, sympathetic look on her face, cut the long-haired zombie girl off by holding out her journal to her. Sakura, with a look of barely piqued interest on her face, looked at the journal that Saki was trying to hand to her, coming to recognize the writing on the cover as her own handwriting. Sakura looked at (what appeared to her to be) her journal for a few second before looking up at Saki.

"…You can start on reading this while I set things up so we can binge watch the episodes of 'Saga Stories' that had aired so far together," Saki said, her sympathetic and concerned tone showing a degree of firmness that would not take 'no' for an answer, "I can even make up some popcorn for us to munch on if you want."

Sakura did not know what to make of the delinquent zombie girl's offer, of her trying to hand this journal over to her. Slowly and a bit tentatively, Sakura reached out to grab the journal, relaxing a bit when Saki allowed her to take it. Saki smiled a bit as Sakura received the journal that she (Sakura) had put so much effort into. "…It's a surprisingly good read, if you don't mind the fact that I read your journal," Saki remarked to Sakura, "You got a lot of things on a lot of us pretty down pat." Turning around to walk out of the room, Saki gestured for Sakura to follow her as she said, "Now come on, you. Let's go fix us up a bowl of popcorn to munch on while we have a 'Saga Stories' marathon."

Saki walked a few steps away before she turned back around, having noticed that Sakura wasn't following her right away. Saki saw that Sakura was simply looking at the cover of her journal with a resigned, somber look. The delinquent zombie girl gave a sympathetic, mildly worried look as she regarded her troubled troop-mate. "…Sakura," Saki began in a concerned tone, for once in a rare while referring to Sakura by her actual name to her face. Sakura looked up to see Saki's face. "…Please," Saki continued in the same concerned tone.

Sakura turned her attention back down to her journal, stared at it for a few moments. "…Can I get something sweet to snack on instead," Sakura began, sounding like she was warming up to the idea albeit barely, "Rather than something salty like popcorn? I'd also like some soda as well, if that's not too much to ask."

Saki cracked a rather big and clearly amused-looking grin. "Heh, sure thing," Saki replied, happy to have reached a good point with Sakura, "I'm certain that we have some mini powdered donuts in the cabinet in the kitchen, as well as some leftover muffins from the food tables that we often have on set while we're filming scenes for the episodes we pump out. I'm also sure that Sigrid won't mind it if we sneak some of her Moonberry Cola, unless that Sunhoney Root Beer that we have is more your speed."

"We have Sunhoney Root Beer?" Sakura asked, sounding like she was perking up just a little bit more. Hearing that increase gave Saki more and more confidence that she was starting to reach on through to the long-haired zombie girl.

"Hells yeah, we do," Saki replied in an amused tone as she walked over to Sakura, threw her arm around Sakura's shoulders, then proceeded to semi-drag Sakura off so that the two of them can have their little late-night TV binge fest.

…

Kotaro walked into the abandoned mansion after his time at the bar that he was drinking at. After walking in and closing the door behind him, the eccentric man sat his shopping bag down on the floor off to the side by the door before straightening up. Kotaro wanted to make sure than none of the zombie girls were awake when he came in late, mostly because he'd rather avoid having to deal with at least one of them chewing him out for being gone for so long.

But as luck would have it for him, Kotaro, after walking a bit further into the abandoned mansion, saw some light emanating out of one of the rooms. Going over to investigate, Kotaro peeked around the corner. What he saw actually surprised him a good deal, thought he kept up a stoic air all the while; Sakura and Saki were sitting together on a sofa as Saki was using a laptop setup to play episodes of 'Saga Stories' on the TV. The girls had some snacks and sodas, and Sakura was even reading from what Kotaro recognized as her journal.

Neither zombie girl had noticed him, or otherwise heard him come in, so Kotaro gently inched away from peeking through that doorway. Despite knowing little for certain, Kotaro was able to deduce that Sakura somehow lost her zombie memories, and that she was given her journal by Saki to read as the two of them binge-watched the episodes of 'Saga Stories' that they and the others had gotten out thus far in an attempt to try to jog Sakura's memories.

Kotaro had an itching feeling that he shouldn't have been as gone from the abandoned mansion for as long as he was. One of the zombie girls, and one which was overall one of the best actresses out of the whole troop no less, was in less-than-stellar shape, and so close to when they had to begin production on the finale for season one. Kotaro dared to sneak a peek again, taking a look at the expression on Sakura's face.

Kotaro saw that the long-haired zombie girl wore a look of determination, a very specific look that he had not seen on her in quite some time…

(FLASHBACK)

(DATE: APRIL 2ND, 2008)

"I'm going to show them!" Sakura declared to her friends as they were in a classroom over at the school that they attended, Azu-Daioh High. Tapping her fist into her hand, Sakura went on, "I'll show my mom and my brat of a kid brother that I have what it takes to become an actress!"

"You can do it, girl," one of the girls that Sakura was friends with, a mildly underweight girl with long black hair in twin braided ponytails and she wore a pair of large round glasses, said as she gestured to her friend.

A number of the other students in Sakura's group of friends all agreed with the glasses wearing girl. One of the boys in that group, whose face we never see, walked up to Sakura and handed her something; a DVD set of a live-action TV series that had a somewhat younger Ayumu on the cover. "I got this since you told me you love this show but you don't have the first season on DVD yet," the boy explained, "Happy Birthday, Sakura."

"Oh!" Sakura remarked as she saw the gift that her friend was handing to her, "Thank you, Inui! I actually forgot that today's my birthday, since I got all caught up in how I'm going to that audition that Nikuko-sensei is having to get a cast for the new project that she's trying to throw together." Crossing her fingers, Sakura said to all of her friends, "Fingers crossed, everyone!" The rest of the group all chuckled a bit as they joined Sakura in hoping for her success.

(FLASHBACK OVER)

Kotaro sighed to himself as he remembered his days as a student over at Azu-Daioh High, back when he was in the same class as Sakura. He never thought of Sakura in a romantic sense, mind you, but she was still a good friend of his that he cared about nonetheless, and hearing of her being killed by a careless driver just five days after she turned seventeen had still stuck a railroad spike right into his heart. Cut down in the prime of her life as she was off to at last realize her dream of becoming an actress.

Kotaro had never forgotten that ditzy and somewhat chronically unlucky but still lovable girl that was determined to achieve her dream of becoming an actress, regardless of what life may have tried to throw her way. It's one of the reasons why Kotaro chose Sakura as one of the ten girls to raise from the dead as a zombie for the 'Saga Stories' project. He had his reasons for all of the others, but the eccentric man knew that Sakura would return, would be given the chance that she had long since earned.

Had he known that something had apparently happened to Sakura, Kotaro would have returned back to the abandoned mansion right away; as the manager of Franchouchou, he would not allow anything bad to happen to any of the zombie girls if he could help it. Kotaro cursed himself for this lapse in his otherwise near-flawless attention to detail. However, he was also grateful that the girls themselves had taken to caring for one another as they had; seeing Saki trying to do her part to help jog Sakura's memories was proof of that.

The eccentric man, carefully and quietly, made his way up to one of the upper floors of the abandoned mansion, never alerting Sakura and Saki to his presence. Likewise not alerting any of the zombie girls that were upstairs as well, Kotaro made his way into his office room, sat down on one of the sofas, and simply fell asleep sitting upright like that.

* * *

The following morning, the zombie girls aside from Sakura and Saki all made their way down stairs for breakfast; regardless of the fact that Sakura was still in no condition to shoot some scenes for the season one finale of 'Saga Stories', the rest of Franchouchou still had to do their part. "Hey, Sakura wasn't in the room she's taken to holing herself up in last night," Junko remarked to her fellow undead, "I got up in the middle of the night hoping to speak with her and try to do something to get her to remember us, but she simply wasn't there when I checked."

"I tried checking on Sakura as well," Lily admitted with a mildly worried whine, "But I didn't find her in her room either."

Yugiri gave a single nod before she turned to Lily and Junko before saying, "I guess that my attempt to jog Sakura's memories to get her to remember us must have occurred after both, because I had also failed to find Sakura in her room." As Yugiri spoke, she and the other seven zombie girls that were with her turned a corner to go into the kitchen. When they did, those eight zombie girls spotted Sakura sitting at the counter table across from where Saki sat.

Sigrid, with a mildly amused look suggesting that she had a feeling that she knew what was going on, remarked, "I believe that the reason you three all failed was because Saki had the same idea as all of you, but she acted before any of you." When the half-foreign zombie girl spoke up, Saki turned her head to face Sigrid and the others; Sakura, with a mildly tired and downcast expression, merely kept her focus on the bowl of cereal she was eating.

"Morning girls," Saki greeted. Jerking a thumb at Sakura, Saki said, "Try to go gentle on her, alright? She's had a long night and is still not up to snuff right now."

"Is Sakura feeling better?" Ai asked.

Saki opened her mouth, as if she was going to say something, but before the delinquent zombie girl could get one word out, she was cut off when Kotaro, wearing a hat that looks like the turban that Jafar wore in the original animated movie, came bursting right in, carrying boxes of curry in each of his hands.

"We just got the curry we're supposed to product place in the season one finale for 'Saga Stories'!" Kotaro declared in something of a sing-song tone, "Who here wants to try some before we get cracking on filming some of the first scenes for the season one finale?"

Saki, with an annoyed scowl on her face, snapped, "I was in the middle of something here, Shades! Can't you-"

"I would love some curry," Yugiri said, unknowingly interrupting Saki in the process as she made her way over to get one of the things of curry from Kotaro. Saki merely sat back down in her seat, her annoyed scowl remaining.

* * *

Later, the zombie girls, aside from Tae as she was not in the current scene and Sakura because she was still out of commission, were working on a scene where all of the girls were together for some big dinner party, in which the curry that Kotaro wanted to product place in the episode was one of the food items. They were all seated around a big table that was at Sigrid's character's home; the table resembled one of the long tables known to have been used at Viking dining halls, a change that was made at Sigrid's request.

"Wow, this curry is really good," Junko remarked as she and the others were in-character. Turning to face Saki, Junko asked, "Where did you say the makers got the idea for this pre-made curry that can be made with hot water from?"

"It's supposedly inspired by curry from India," Saki replied after eating a spoonful of the curry that she had, "It really is good, isn't it?"

As the zombie girls acted out the scene, Kotaro, who was filming everything, could not help but feel that something was off. Don't get him wrong, Kotaro felt that the girls of Franchouchou that were in the scene were doing perfectly thus far. It's just that…that something was missing, you know? Like something was missing that would have otherwise tied everything together in a nice neat little bow.

Kotaro let out a silent resigned sigh. He continued to film up until some of the men that's in cahoots with him caused a bit of noise that prompted Kotaro to yell, "CUT!" With the girls all stopping mid-scene and looking over to where the noise came from, Kotaro himself also turned to see what the hell was going on. Spotting two men trying to handle a large support structure that looked similar to metal-framed electrical support towers, Kotaro snapped, "Can you please try to keep things quite, you two? I swear to Gilgamesh that you could have ruined the scene if I hand's called for cut!"

"Heh, sorry about that, sir," the first man said, "It's just that Shino here and I are trying to move this over to-" The first man, as well as his companion Shino, lost focus on the structure that they were trying to move. As such, it slipped from their grasps and began falling over like a large tree that had been chopped down. Due to the way that it was aimed, the structure fell right at Ai right where she sat.

Seeing the large structure, especially given that it resembled the one that fell on top of her right before she perished in the concert hall fire that killed her so many years ago, fall as it was aimed right at her, made the Heisei idol zombie girl go wide-eyed with rattled fear. Too scared to even think of anything else, Ai merely scrunched up as she covered her head with her hands as she cried out in fright. The other zombie girls, some of which were trying to move to save Ai, called out to their fellow undead out of concern and worry, as they themselves also saw that Ai was going to get struck by that falling support structure.

…A hand reached out quickly, grabbing one of the bars that made up the support structure. This lone hand proceeded to try and pull the support structure back as much as possible. Although the support structure wasn't set back right up, it was kept in place long enough for the girls to all see that someone had grabbed and stopped it, had effectively saved Ai from suffering a really terrible accident on set. The girls of Franchouchou, even Ai when she calmed down upon realizing that she wasn't going to get crushed by a support structure (again) all looked to see who it was that had arrived to save the day.

To their surprise, it was Sakura who, by the time they all saw her, had both hands on the support structure as she tried to keep it from falling on Ai. "Everyone get Ai out of there now!" the long-haired zombie girl cried out as she strained to keep the support structure from falling, "I'm not too sure about how long I can keep this up!" Without even thinking about it, Yugiri and Junko had both moved to collect Ai and whisk her away from certain danger. After Sakura saw that all of the girls had cleared out of the set, she let go of the support structure, allowing it to fall and crash, partly wrecking the table that was being used in the scene.

As the other zombie girls began to gather around her, Sakura turned to regard Yugiri and Junko. "Thanks for moving quickly to save Ai as quickly as you did, Junko and Yugiri," Sakura said with a nod, "It would have been disastrous if she had gotten slammed like that."

"It was no issue, Sakura," Yugiri remarked with a casual bow of her head, "I would never let anything happen to any of the other girls if I could-" Yugiri stopped short and, along with all of the other girls of Franchouchou, looked at Sakura with wide-eyed bewildered looks; only Saki did not act as her fellow undead did, but none of them noticed. They all then pointed at Sakura and went, "EHH?!" in unison out of sheer surprise.

Giving the other girls a curious, mildly confused look, Sakura asked, "What's wrong, girls?"

"You…" Lily began, "…You remember us?! You actually finally remembered all of us, Sakura?!" Realizing what the child actress zombie girl was so worked up about, Sakura merely gave a single nod in the affirmative, a calm but reassuring smile on her face. "This…" Lily began as she started to tear up. Running right towards the long-haired zombie girl, Lily threw her arms around her to drag Sakura into a hug, crying right into her chest at the same time.

Sakura, still smiling calmly and in an understanding manner, gently patted Lily on the back. "Yes, I finally remember all of you girls," Sakura replied, "Remembered all of my memories since I had first awoken as a zombie. I also still have all of my memories from when I was still a living human, so I got everything now, I guess."

The other girls (aside from Saki, not that any of the others noticed) all looked surprised to see that Sakura had not only regained all of her zombie memories, but was able to keep all of her living memories as well. "This…" Junko began, "…This is incredible!" Looking at Sakura more directly, the Showa idol zombie girl asked, "Since when did you-"

"Since last night," Saki said, cutting Junko off and making her and all of the other zombie girls turn to see her. With a mildly amused smirk on her face, Saki explained, "I found Sakura's little journal and handed it to her while telling her to read it, also I had her binge watch the episodes that we got out so far." With a nod, the delinquent zombie girl remarked, "I guess that having her read about everything that she did with us, as well as watch all of us in action on TV, went a long way to jumpstart her memories."

Nodding in agreement, Sakura remarked, "Everything did sort of start clicking for me at around the point where I was reading my journal when I got to the point where Lily, Ayumu and I went to that Nagi lady's place to learn more about Sigrid."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Sigrid remarked, "Ah, yes. I remember that." Turning to face Kotaro, Sigrid remarked, "You know, I still want to know why you gussied Sakura up to look like an obese nerd, as well as gussy Ayumu up to look like one of those dark magic girls."

Kotaro, after giving an indifferent shrug, simply replied, "To be completely honest here, I was having a little bit of fun dressing Sakura, Ayumu and Lily up in those disguises. I don't get a lot of opportunities to make use of my skills in disguises, so when the girls wanted to go out to learn more about you, I figured that it would be the perfect opportunity for me to dress all of them up in elaborate disguises." With a self-amused look on his face, the eccentric man said as he crossed his arms over his chest, "I sure did fool both you and Saki with how I dressed Sakura, Lily and Ayumu up, didn't I?"

Chuckling a bit, Saki said, "Yeah, you did alright, Shades."

"Hang on," Junko began, a look of suspicion on her face, as she turned to regard Saki, "You seemed to have played a big role in helping Sakura to recover her memories, so you were there when it happened. How long has it been exactly since Sakura got all of her memories?"

With a shrug, Saki replied, "Egghead's had all of her memories since a few hours before you and the others found us eating breakfast in the kitchen earlier this morning."

"A few hours before the girls and I all-" Junko began, but stopped short out of shocked surprise due to needing to gather her thoughts. Pointing an accusing finger at Saki, the Showa idol zombie girl said, "You mean to tell us that Sakura had all of her memories back by the time we all found the two of you eating breakfast earlier this morning?!"

After Saki gave an affirmative nod, Ai said, "Hang on, we all assumed that Sakura's zombie memories were still missing." Putting her hands on her hips, Ai said, "When the rest of us found her with you in the kitchen earlier, she looked tired and you said that she wasn't 'up to snuff' as you had put it."

"…Yeah," Saki replied, sounding like she's a bit confused that the others didn't quite get it "Egghead wasn't up to snuff because she had a long night, like I said."

"Well why didn't you tell us that Sakura had regained all of her memories?" Lily practically demanded of the delinquent zombie girl.

Pointing a somewhat accusing finger right at Kotaro, Saki said, "I was going to, but Shades here burst in before I could have gotten a word out about it, as he wanted to go on about the curry deal that he had gotten for us."

The other eight girls of Franchouchou all turned to look at their manager, giving him a collective dry, unamused look. The eccentric man chuckled nervously under all of the gazes that he was getting from the undead girls. "Heh, heh," Kotaro laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his head in a gesture that further conveyed his nervousness and slight embarrassment, "Whoops. Sorry that I had burst in on such an important moment for you girls." The zombie girls aside from Sakura and Saki as they both still stood off to the side all began to shout in annoyed tones at Kotaro, with Sigrid even threatening to 'strike him as she would the harlot on occasions when she got on her nerves'.

Although she did so as she watched her fellow undead chew Kotaro out for his bad timing and stupidity, Sakura chuckled a bit. She still felt terrible about how she acted while she had lost her zombie memories, but now that she had not only those but her living memories as well, Sakura let out a quiet sigh of relief. All things considered, Sakura was glad that she had achieved her long-held dreams of becoming an actress, and that she had a group of solid, reliable friends that would stick by her through thick and thin.

…Who would have ever guessed that becoming a zombie would be pretty ballin'?

END, SAGA STORIES CHAPTER TWELVE

Author's notes:

And there we go, Sakura had her big, end-of-block character development arc. Sorry that I had to condense her two episodes into one chapter, but with what I saw, I wasn't going to need to use that much writing. Besides, I gave Lily two chapters, and a chapter that would have gone to Sakura to an extent was instead given to Yugiri. All in all, this story is now at the same point as the series proper, where the girls are all now a united group force, and Sakura now has all of her memories, both living and undead.

Anyway, I know that the second season either will come out or has come out by the time I finished this chapter, but regardless of what happens in the beginning of season 2, chapter 13 is going to be completely different. It will start out with Saki taking Sakura out to celebrate her getting all of her memories back, and the two of them will talk a bit about their respective pasts, only for an event that will occur as a main major point in one of my other stories to go down, prompting Sakura and Saki into action to do what they can to help who they can.

It'll be a chapter that will bring a lot of the points I have in mind together.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own Zombie Land Saga, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Saga Stories: A tale of Zombie Land Saga

Chapter thirteen: Siege of monsters

Sakura Minamoto, after waking up the day after she and her fellow zombie actress girls did some commercial for a popular brand of curry, was sitting on a patio located on one of the upper floors of the abandoned mansion in Saga. It was fairly early in the morning, a little past six at most. Sakura was sitting on a comfortable wicker bench that had a long cushion on it for people to sit on. On a small outdoor table that was level with the arms of the wicker bench was a mug of coffee that Sakura had brought out with her.

The morning was cool yet comfortable, and Sakura, dressed in a notably baggy pink shirt with some very mild flower-patterns on the one side, a strong pink skirt that ended just an inch below her knees, a pair of white baggy socks and pastel pink slip-on shoes, and of course her customary ribbons on the side of her head in her hair, felt very much comfortable with her surroundings, with how her morning was shaping up to be. The long-haired zombie girl couldn't remember for the life (or lack thereof) of her ever having a morning that felt this good to her.

…In her current life as a zombie, or her previous life when she was still a living human.

Indeed, ever since she had first awoken as a zombie, Sakura couldn't remember any of her past life as a human. She got vague feelings that her human past wasn't exactly worth remembering, but even so she had taken to writing down all about all of her experiences ever since she first woke up as one of the undead. A short while ago, Sakura was in an accident where she, due to the trauma of the accident, jogged her human memories at the expense of forgetting her zombie ones. But thanks to the efforts of her fellow zombie actress Saki, Sakura had regained all of her zombie memories. Sakura also still had all of her human ones as well, so now she had-

"There you are, Egghead," the familiar and amused-sounding voice of Saki called out, making Sakura turn her head to see the delinquent zombie girl walking up to her. Both Saki and Sakura were in their zombie forms, neither of them using monster glamour to appear human. As they and all of the other zombie girls were at the mansion right now, this was no issue, so the girls were able to go about as they pleased. Letting out a snicker, Saki said, "I was wondering where you had gotten off to."

"I just wanted to enjoy a morning mug of coffee outside is all," Sakura replied as she gestured around their surroundings, "It's rather lovely outside right now. It just feels…cozy right now, you know?"

Saki smirked a bit, amused by the long-haired zombie girl's explanation. "Yeah, I get you," Saki remarked, "And it does feel like a pretty good time to be outside right now." Giving Sakura a curious look over, the delinquent zombie girl said, "Hey Egghead, you're still feeling okay after you got all of your memories back, right?" Sakura nodded a few times in the affirmative, getting a bit of a smile out of Saki.

Nodding once, Saki said, "Good, that's good." Saki crossed her arms over her chest as she looked at Sakura. Arching an eyebrow, Saki said, "Say Egghead, since you fully recovered and have all of your memories, what do you say we go out to celebrate it by getting something to eat? It'll be my treat."

"You…want to take all ten of us out to-" Sakura began in a curious tone, but was cut off when Saki held a hand up to cut her off.

Lowering her hand that she raised, the delinquent zombie girl said, "Not all ten of us zombies, Egghead." Gesturing between herself and long haired zombie girl, Saki clarified, "Just the two of us. You and me."

Sakura was a bit surprised that Saki was asking for some one on one time with her. "You…you want to take just me over to Drive-In Tori?" Sakura asked.

"Drive-In Tori, Egghead?" Saki replied, a curious look on her face.

"Well you said that you were treating," Sakura explained, "So I'm assuming that we're going to Drive-In Tori, since you sing its praise so much."

Saki chuckled a bit in understanding amusement. "…Yeah, it's a ball'in place, I'll always defend that," the delinquent zombie girl remarked. Giving Sakura an amused-looking smirk, Saki went on as she gestured to Sakura, "But this little outing is to celebrate your recovery. So if there's some other place that you want to head out to, just say the word and I'll hotwi-err-_borrow_ the van from Shades so we can drive over and have a little breakfast or whatever together."

Sakura was surprised that Saki was giving her free reign to pick where the two of them would go to for a little bit of a breakfast together. After thinking about it for a bit, Sakura said, "Well, there is this one cake café that I've seen a few times. I'm kind of fond of sweets, and it's been ages since I've had some cake. The place I'm talking about also serves a selection of teas that go very well with all of their sweets, and I want to try their sweet tea."

Saki scowled a little bit at the mention of sweets; sure, Sakura liked sweets, but the delinquent zombie girl would readily confess to the fact that she didn't have the biggest sweet tooth in the world. Still, Saki was doing this for Sakura; it was Sakura's big thing, so if she wanted some nice little muffins or whatever the hell, then Saki would put up with it for her sake. "Alright, it's to the sweets place for us," Saki said, "Just give me a bit of time to get the okay from Shades to use the van so we have a ride while we're out."

The long haired zombie girl had reason to suspect that Saki wasn't exactly going to seek actual permission from Kotaro to borrow the van, or do something to borrow the van that was otherwise okay by conventional standards. Still, Sakura had to admit that this was part of the charm that made Saki just as diverse of a person as the other zombie girls. Sakura finished her coffee before she took the mug back inside, not wanting to leave it lying about while she and Saki would be out for the day.

* * *

Junko Konno and Ai Mizuno also had similar thoughts to what Saki was having, that being getting something together to celebrate Sakura's recovery. The two zombie idol girls, Showa and Heisei alike, decided to go it on foot since Junko was still a bit nervous when it came to riding in a vehicle, and even if she wasn't Kotaro couldn't drive them since when he went to the garage a few minutes previous he saw that the van was missing.

"Hey Junko," Ai began, getting her Showa counterpart to turn to face her, "What color streamers did Lily say we should get for the party for Sakura again?"

"Pink, Ai," Junko replied, "We got it that pink is Sakura's favorite-"

*BOOM*

Both zombie idol girls jumped a bit at the sound of the explosion that they heard somewhere in the city just now. Both of them looked around, and it was Ai who first spotted a column of black smoke rise up into the sky. "What the heck is going on?!" Ai exclaimed, a clearly alarmed look on her fair-skinned face; as they were out in public, both Ai and Junko had monster glamour up, so as to appear human.

Gently shaking her head as she and Ai both looked in the direction of the smoke, Junko said, "I have no clue, Ai." To the Heisei idol zombie girl's surprise, her Showa counterpart suddenly began to do a brisk walk towards the direction the column of smoke was rising up in.

"Why are you going towards the chaos, Junko?" Ai asked, "Shouldn't we move _away_ from it?"

"That smoke is in the direction of the park where we did that dance with the old folks," Junko clarified, "And they have their dances at the park regularly. There's a good chance that they might be in that area, thus are in danger." Giving Ai a serious look with a hint of knowingness in it, the Showa idol zombie girl continued, "Besides which. If we're seen helping senior citizens get away from a burning building or whatever, it'll look good on us, thus look good on the whole of Franchouchou. I don't think Kotaro will be upset with good publicity."

Ai had to admit that Junko had a point on how it would look good on them if they helped the elderly in a crisis, even though Ai was getting the feeling that Junko wanted to go over there and help out solely because she was just plain worried about the old folks. Ai was unsure about heading in the direction of what could potentially be a burning building that is engulfed in fire, but she figured that there wasn't much of a choice in the matter for her.

Figuring that Junko would probably put up with it if she stood by and tended to any old folks outside of said burning building, Ai said, "Alright, lead the way." With their quest for the party décor for Sakura's party ignored for the time being, the two idol zombie girls made their way in the direction of the smoke column.

* * *

Sigrid Aesirson was out for a stroll to allow her mind to wander. The half-foreign zombie girl was still wondering what business was here on Midgard that the All-father would permit her return as a draugr to carry out. She yearned to know what she had to do, to get the answers for why she was taken from her warrior's reward in Valhalla. It was during Sigrid's wandering that she heard the panicked screams of some people, as well as the shouting of a loud and angry voice that sounded full of warlust.

Looking over, she saw a group of four humans; one was a young adult man who looked to be eighteen at a minimum, but the others were all early to mid-teens, two girls and a boy. However, it was what was chasing the four humans that had caught Sigrid's attention; a large, hulking, monstrous looking humanoid creature that seemed as if it were some manner of ogre. It was very clearly shouting in sadistic delight as it was threatening to literally rip all four of the humans limb from limb.

The half-foreign zombie girl took note of how the hulking brute was specifically referring to the four humans _as_ humans, seemingly as if the hulking brute himself was _not_ a member of humanity. Knowing full well that she herself was no longer a member of humanity, Sigrid felt compelled, both by seeing the humans flee from the brute and by her own warrior's blood, to go over and confront the beast. After all, who better to fight someone who by their words suggest that they aren't human than someone who literally isn't human themselves?

Sigrid's only concern was that she would be going in to fight the monster unarmed. Luckily for her, she spotted that one of the fleeing young teens, the only boy, had worn over his back a carrying case for sporting equipment, but it was just big enough to hold a single sporting instrument. Sticking out of the carrying case over the boy's back was the handle of a baseball bat, a sight that stirred something within the memories of the half-foreign zombie girl, but she paid it no mind as she made a slight turn to run to the boy that had the baseball bat.

As Sigrid reached the fleeing teen boy, she grabbed the handle of the baseball bat in the carrying case worn over his back as she turned to face the pursuing hulking brute. Without even taking a close look at the bat, Sigrid moved it to her right hand (she grabbed it with her left) before swinging the bat at the hulking brute, striking him on the side of his nose with such force that she heard and felt a satisfying crack.

The hulking brute fell back as he covered his broken and bleeding nose. "Aha!" Sigrid yelled at the hulking brute, "That will teach you to-" Sigrid stopped short when, as she yelled at the hulking brute she attacked to save the innocent teens and lone young adult, she saw the side of the bat that she had borrowed from the teen boy. Sigrid could not believe it as she saw those very familiar etchings on the side, etching that resemble the details on the side of a certain model of swords that were favored by the Vikings that once ruled the ancient lands of Scandinavia. Sigrid held the metal bat up to get a better look at it; those etchings were true, and the bat did not look like it had just come out of the factory freshly crafted.

"…Ulfberht…" the half-foreign zombie girl said, recognizing the very armament that she had used so long ago, back in her previous life, her life before she had fallen in battle. Sigrid's reminiscing on the past was cut off when the hulking brute recovered enough to look at her, a clearly pissed look on his face.

"So, another human wants to try to fight back against the hordes of Warlord Hirajo, huh?" the hulking brute said, "Fine, human bitch. I'll play your game." This hulking brute, despite clearly not being human, did not frighten Sigrid, even when she initially rushed him unarmed.

…But now she had Ulfberht. Now, Sigrid was _complete_.

"By the halls of Valhalla…" Sigrid said as she rushed the hulking brute again. The hulking brute tried to make a grab for her, but Sigrid skillfully dodged the reach, then jumped up and swung Ulfberht at the brute's head again. This time, she rended a diagonal gash across the brute's forehead as the end of Ulfberht struck across the head. "…I SAY NAY!" the half-foreign zombie girl exclaimed as the brute fell back while clutching his bleeding wound on his forehead; his nose was still broken and bleeding to, so there was blood all over.

The large hulking brute was surprised by the strength that this human girl was using. From what he was figuring, there was no way that this girl could be human, even though she was looking very much human. The brute was further surprised when the girl that was attacking him kicked him over with a well-placed foot slam to his chest, making him fall over prone. With a single jump, Sigrid flew over the prone brute and slammed her left foot down on his throat, crushing his windpipe. As he suffocated, the brute saw Sigrid swing that metal baseball bat at him, striking him in right on his forehead.

He saw nothing right as his head was hit, and would never see anything ever again.

Sigrid, holding the blood-coated Ulfberht in her right hand, walked a few steps backwards as she kept her eyes on the large hulking brute that had tried to kill four innocents before she stepped in and vanquished him herself. As the half-foreign zombie girl looked at the creature that she had just slain, she heard one of the young teen girls behind her say, "You…you just killed that big muscular monster guy." Having heard that girl speak up, Sigrid turned around to face the group of four humans that she had just saved from certain death.

Gesturing to where the corpse of the creature Sigrid had killed laid on the ground, the first teen girl in the group said, "There's…there's a bunch of those guys in the city. They showed up so suddenly." Gesturing to the young adult guy in the group, the first teen girl continued, "My older brother Saburo was taking me, Tsubaki and Sigurd to the park so we can practice baseball, and Sigurd even managed to borrow that special bat you took from him." Gesturing to herself, the first teen girl said, "My name is Maka, by the way. Thanks for the save just now."

"You…you are welcome," Sigrid replied to Maka, before turning her attention to the teen boy she took Ulfberht from. "You, boy," Sigrid said, "I assume that you are Sigurd, yes?" After the teen boy nodded once in the affirmative, Sigrid said, "What is your mother's name, and how is it that you borrowed this bat from her?'

Sigurd, looking mildly surprised, proceeded to explain, "My mother's name is Nagi. That bat that you took from me, it used to belong to an old friend of my mother's back before she had me, back when she used to belong to a delinquent group called Einherjar. Or so she says." Pointing to Ulfberht, the blood on it now starting to dry a bit, Sigurd continued, "My mom said that her old friend who used to own that bat named it Ulfberht, and that it was very special to said friend. My mom took over owning it when her friend died a long time ago, and she's had it ever since."

"I lost my bat, so Sigurd borrowed his mom's special bat so we can practice at the park," the girl identified as Tsubaki explained, "We were on our way to the park to practice when those big muscular monster guys started to attack everyone and everything in sight."

"I saw the pro heroes Mt. Lady, Mirko and Ryukyu on their way to fight the monsters in some part of the city," the young adult man identified as Maka's older brother Saburo said, "I can only hope that more pro heroes rush in to fight the monsters."

Sigrid looked at Saburo and the human teens with a mildly curious look. Pointing at the brute that she killed with Ulfberht, Sigrid said in a tone of piqued interest, "You all speak as if this beast here and all of his fellows that are attacking the city are not human."

"That's because they aren't," Maka said, "Or at least they simply can't be. I saw some of them morph into their large, hulking forms before attacking random places and people." With a troubled look, Maka continued, "I saw a particularly high concentration of them heading in the direction of the business district, where Shirayuki Offices is located. Me and Saburo's dad work there, and I'm really worried that he might be in serious danger."

Sigrid turned around to look in the direction of the city that had a higher concentration of buildings. She saw a few small trials of smoke rise up into the skyline, so the stories that the humans were telling her sounded legit to her. Sigrid turned to face Sigurd, gestured to him with her free hand. "…I shall be needing Ulfberht's case," Sigrid said flatly, her tone sounding more demanding than requesting.

Confused by Sigrid's actions, Sigurd nonetheless complied, taking off the sporting equipment case over his back and handing it over to Sigrid. The half-foreign zombie girl put Ulfberht in the case before slipping the case on over her back, just as Sigurd had worn it. The strap of the case went over Sigrid's chest, from her right shoulder to her left hip, and the case itself worn over her back, with the top peeking out from behind her right shoulder and the bottom peeking out a bit from behind her left hip.

…Again, complete.

Turning around, Sigrid pointed in the direction of the rising smoke in the city. "The monsters are in the city over there, yes?" Sigrid asked, "Then take me over there." The teens and Saburo all looked at Sigrid as if she had just grown a third head.

"Are you crazy?" Tsubaki nearly exclaimed, "Sure, you killed one, but do you know how many are over in the city area?!"

"I will lay them all low," Sigrid said, her tone determined and assured, "I will send them straight to the pits of Helheim."

Gesturing to Sigrid, Saburo said, "My little sister's friend has a point. Things are nothing short of chaotic over there. And what if you get killed yourself?"

With a chuckle, Sigrid replied, "Then I will have fallen in battle, a true finish that all warriors strive for. I will be brought back to the halls of Valhalla by the Valkyries once more, and will be returned to my warrior's reward that I was taken away from." The humans were confused by the half-foreign zombie girl's words, but they looked at each other and collectively figured that at this point, nothing could hurt.

Since there was no room in the cab of Saburo's truck for her, Sigrid had to ride in the bed of said truck, which was one of those worker's trucks that had that white rack thing sticking up in the bed. There were four white-painted metal posts, each post sticking up from a corner and were also connected by other white-painted metal bars. Sigrid got into the truck bed, careful to avoid the various gardening and landscaping tools, and stood in the bed of the truck, gripping the bar located above the truck cab.

"To battle!" Sigrid said as she pointed in the direction of the rising smoke. Figuring to just roll with it, Saburo had the teens get into the cab of the truck before he got in himself, sat in the driver's seat, stuck the keys into the ignition, and then turned the truck on and drove off. Sigrid looked on at the rising pillars of smoke in the city area as the truck sped towards it, her twin braids flowing in the wind as the truck made its way to the chaos. As she sped over to battle, the half-foreign zombie girl thought that perhaps this was the reason that the all-father permitted her return to Midgard as a draugr.

She was to be his champion in the war against the monsters.

* * *

"What fresh manner of hell is this?!" Saki exclaimed as she sped around in Kotaro's van that she hotwi-err-_borrowed_ earlier, driving with all due haste to get out of the pandemonium that was going on at the moment. At first, things were going well during Saki and Sakura's little outing. The delinquent zombie girl, although she was not one for sweets herself, had to admit seeing Sakura enjoy the cake she got was a rather cute scene.

…Then a large, hulking monstrous brute suddenly barged into the cake café and started wrecking the place. Acting on instinct, Saki grabbed Sakura by the hand and ran out of a side door of the cake café with her. She threw Sakura into the passenger seat before climbing into the driver's seat herself, turned the van on, and then sped off. Saki saw more and more of the hulking brutes as she sped through trying to find a path to safety, because no way in hell was she going to let Sakura remain here in the city, not while there were all of these large hulking monstrous looking brutes milling about the place.

Speaking of Sakura, she was hunched up in the passenger's seat, very clearly frightened out of her mind. It was bad enough that Sakura saw some large, Lovecraftian horror suddenly appear in the middle of the area over by Shirayuki Offices that made her freak out just by seeing it, but Saki would be damned if she was going to let the long-haired zombie girl remain here where all of this horror was going on.

Saki pulled up near the entrance to an alleyway as she spotted a group of eight teens and one young girl that looked like they just escaped from a school somewhere nearby; if Saki's memory of this area from when she was still alive was accurate, then the group of students had most likely just come from Azu-Daioh High, although what the young girl, who had orange hair in twin pigtails, was doing in the group was beyond her. Seeing that the group of students had all noticed her pull up, Saki lowered the driver's side window.

"You all students who got out of a nearby school while trying to escape all of the big, hulking monsters that are attacking all over the city?" Saki called out to the students.

"Yeah, my friends and I all just escaped from Azu-Daioh High," explained one of the teen girls, who had long orangish hair and wore glasses, "The monsters that you just described began attacking our school." Gesturing to herself and the others in her group, the glasses girl continued, "The only reason all nine of us were able to escape was because student heroes from U.A. High School showed up to fight the monsters."

Sakura, having heard what the glasses girl said, spoke up suddenly. "Did that one girl just say U.A. High School?" Sakura leaned forward a bit to see Saki's face better, thus allowing the group of students outside to see her. "Don't you think we ought to leave all of the rescuing to the heroes?" Sakura asked the delinquent zombie girl.

"Chill out, Egghead," Saki said, "The two of us aren't exactly about to go out and fight those big hulking whatevers head-on. We're only going to pick up who we can and get them as far from all of this chaos as possible." The large abomination that Sakura spotted earlier roared out once again, catching the attention of both Saki and Sakura, the latter of which cried out in a freaked-out tone. "We should also get them as far away from that thing as possible," Saki remarked as she gave the abomination a dry look.

"Yes, please!" one of the boys in the group exclaimed, getting Saki and Sakura to look at him with curious looks, "Please get us all as far away from all of those monsters and that big-ass freak show as you-" The boy would have gone on, but he was cut off when a girl in the group, who to Sakura and Saki looked an awful lot like their fellow zombie girl Ayumu, cut the teen boy off before he could finish.

"Wait a minute, hold up," the Ayumu-lookalike said, cutting the boy off. Pointing to Saki and Sakura, the Ayumu-lookalike continued, "I recognize the both of you! You both star on that new slice-of-life sitcom called Saga Stories! I love your show!"

Smirking in amusement, Saki remarked to face Sakura and said, "Well would you look at that, Egghead? The first people we're picking up and driving to safety just so happens to include at least one of our fans."

"Make that two," said one of the girls as she stepped forward; this girl had long straight black hair and was clearly the tallest girl of the group. "I always make sure to catch every week's new episode," the tall girl said to Saki and Sakura as the glasses girl and a sporty looking girl stepped forward to explain that they were also fans of Saga Stories, leaving the three boys, an energetic looking girl and the young girl looking on in mild confusion.

Jerking a thumb over her back to point out the back rows of seats in the van, Saki said, "Well kids, what are you all waiting for? Hop in and Egghead here and I will take you all to a safe location." Wincing slightly as she did a quick count of the teens, Saki added, "Some of you might have to sit on each other's laps to make room, though."

"I volunteer myself to sit on Satoshi's lap, then!" the energetic girl declared as she raised a hand, drawing confused looks out of all of her friends and a look of mixed confusion and mildly piqued interest out of one of the boys, who Saki guessed was Satoshi.

Chuckling a bit in amusement, Saki said, "Whatever you want, kiddo. Just climb in the back with the rest of your friends."

As the energetic girl and the other human teens climbed into the back of the van, Sakura remarked to Saki in a mildly concerned tone, "Hey, don't you think Kotaro will get mad at the two of us when he finds out we took the van without his permission?"

Casually waving a hand in a gesture to show that she wasn't concerned, Saki replied, "When word gets out that we did so to personally save some of our fans from the monsters attacking the city, we'll get so much good publicity that Shades will actually thank us." Once all of the human teens were loaded into the van and the door closed behind them, Saki slammed her foot on the gas and drove off with all due speed.

* * *

Junko and Ai were running for their (un)lives as they tried to get back to the abandoned mansion; from what they saw, the chaos seemed to be concentrated in the city area, meaning out of the way places such as the abandoned mansion ought to be safe from attack by the monsters, as that is what was clearly going on, what those large, hulking brutes had to be. The two idol zombie girls stopped in their tracks when a building off to the side suddenly had its windows explode from inside, bursting open as flames erupted from within.

"Oh my goodness!" Junko exclaimed in surprise, just as startled as the pyrophobic Ai when the flames erupted from the building. The two zombie girls would have gone on to continue running to safety, but they stopped short when they heard one of the women standing outside near the burning building cry out in fear and worry.

"My ten-year-old son's in there!" the woman cried out; this woman had long, dark green hair, fair skin with little pink marks on her cheeks that look like blushing. Her face was a bit wide around her long mouth, making her look somewhat like a frog. As for her outfit, the woman wore a rather simple, albeit a little baggy-looking, purple sweater with a slightly darker purple turtleneck, a black skirt that reached an inch past her knees, cream-colored stockings and a pair of simple brown shoes.

Looking over as she saw the worried woman, Junko remarked aloud but mostly to herself and Ai, "Aww geez, that woman's kid is trapped in a burning-"

"AHHHHHHHH!" Ai yelled aloud, cutting Junko off as she, to the surprise of her Showa counterpart, ran right for the burning building before running right inside. Junko could not help but stare in alarm and worry as the Heisei idol zombie girl was inside of the burning building. What made this particularly surprising for Junko was the fact that Ai has pyrophobia.

Ai died when she was burned in a concert hall fire. And yet Ai _ran right into_ a burning building, obstinately to try and locate the panicking woman's son who was still inside. Junko jogged over to the woman to ask her what had happened. "Some of those large, hulking…things…that have been attacking all over the city tried to raise some ruckus here," the frog-like woman explained, "The pro hero Endeavor fought them off, but some of his flames spread to that building that the dark-haired girl just ran into right as Endeavor took off to pursue the fleeing-"

The frog-like woman was cut off when Ai called out, "This is the only kid that I could find!" Junko and the frog-like woman turned to look over to see the Heisei idol zombie girl lead a ten-year-old boy down the stairs that led up the building that they just got out of.

The boy was fair-skinned, had shoulder-length black hair with the bangs of it obscuring his right eye, a bit of blushing on his left cheek similar to what the frog-like woman had, and he wore a baggy bluish t-shirt that had an image that bore a resemblance to the pro hero Ryukyu, a baggy pair of pale tannish cargo pants held up with a belt, and murky green shoes with white toes. He also had on a light gray backpack over his back; there was a light blue hexagon-shaped patch on the main pouch of the bag with a white silhouette of a flop-eared bunny in the middle, and a plushy resembling the dragon form of the pro hero Ryukyu stuck out from the main compartment of the backpack.

"Samidare!" the frog-like woman exclaimed as she ran forward and collected the boy into an embracing hug, crying tears of relief that the boy, who was clearly her son and apparently named Samidare, was safely rescued from the burning building. Samidare simply kept his face buried in his mom's shirt, crying in a clearly freaked out manner.

As Ai walked over to join Junko, the frog-like woman said as she looked up from her son and over to Ai, "I just don't know what to say to thank you for doing what you did to rescue my son from the fire."

Gently shaking her head, Ai replied, "No need to thank me. I'm just glad that I was able to-"

"Wait!" the frog-like woman said, pointing to Ai and Junko as a pair, "I recognize the two of you!" Nodding twice, the frog-like woman continued, "Yes, you two are numbers three and four! You two both star in Saga Stories!" Smiling a bit, the frog-like woman said, "My friend Inko and I are both really big fans of your show. We even saw the latest episode at the hospital that we're both nurses at while we were helping with a patient named Rei, who was watching the episode on the TV in her hospital room."

"Oh, umm, wow," Ai remarked, "I didn't know that I was saving the son of one of my fans." Blushing a bit in embarrassment, Ai continued as she scratched the side of her head, "Well, if it helps, you're certainly welcome."

Samidare, while his face was still buried in his mother's sweater, wined a bit in a clearly frightened and distressed tone. The frog-like woman noticed this, gave her son a reassuring pat on his back, then looked back up to Ai, who stood alone since Junko was doing something else. "We really need to get out of here," the frog-like woman said, "We're all in danger here, and Samidare is getting really distressed with all of the chaos that's going on."

Nodding in understanding, Ai replied, "Don't worry, ma'am. Once I find number four, the two of us will take you and your son here out of this area and-"

"Hey, number three!" Junko called out from a ways away, getting Ai and the frog-like woman to look over. Both girls were surprised to see Junko in the driver's seat of a car parked outside next to a fire hydrant. "Get in!" the Showa idol zombie girl called out from the car, which she had running at the moment, "I'll get us all out of here!"

Not bothering to question anything, Ai led the frog-like woman and her son over to the car that Junko clearly had just hijacked. Ai got into the passenger seat, and the frog-like woman got her son to climb in first before she herself climbed in. The frog-like woman sat behind Ai and her son sat behind Junko. "Are…" Ai asked as she turned to face Junko, "Are you okay to drive? I mean, isn't your amaxophobia still a problem?"

Gently shaking her head, Junko replied, "Now isn't exactly the time to let my fears bother me. I'll try to keep my screaming in fear as I drive under control."

"I hope so," the frog-like woman replied, "Loud noises like constant screaming really distress Samidare, so it will make him freak out even more than he is right now." The frog-like woman looked to her son, who was currently curled up in a fetal position on his seat in the car. Both of the idol zombie girls nodded in understanding, with Junko being especially understanding, right before the car pulled out away from the fire hydrant and proceeded to speed away from the chaos that was going on in that area.

* * *

"To the pits of Helheim with you, violent ogre!" Sigrid exclaimed as she swung Ulfberht at another one of the hulking muscular brutes, rending a gash in his forehead as the head of the bat struck across his forehead. The brute fell over prone, and as he laid on the ground, the half-foreign zombie girl went over and swung her metal bat down on the monster's forehead, ending the creature forever.

Having vanquished her fifteenth monster (yes, she was keeping count in her head) thus far, Sigrid turned to look up and see if there were anymore monsters for her to do battle with. Sigrid had never felt so alive in all of her life, both as a human and now as a draugr. This was a true rush, an epic battle against actual monsters that even the gods themselves would very much want to take part in.

…And that last part is what was giving Sigrid any concern at all. These were all straight up actual monsters, not unlike the ghosts and goblins that little children would hear of when their parents read bedtime stories to them. Were it not for the fact that Sigrid herself had been returned to Midgard as a draugr, then she would have had to question the very existence of these brutes. Even so, the half-foreign zombie girl would do as anyone in this situation would do; act as a true warrior and vanquish as many-

Sigrid was cut off in the middle of her thoughts when she heard a loud roar cry out from overhead. Looking up, Sigrid could not even believe her eyes, even though she had seen and vanquished many of the large, hulking monstrous brutes, even though she sees her draugr self in the mirror every morning ever since she had awoken as one of the undead. Sigrid, for the first time in all of her existence both living and undead, could honestly say that she had felt fear.

"DRAGON!" Sigrid exclaimed as she saw a large winged dragon fly overhead; it had pale gray scales although areas around its neck and head had fair-toned skin similar to that of a human, chin-length blonde hair held back with a headband, and a baggy hooded sweater worn under a casual dress jacket that was open in the front. Sigrid questioned not why the dragon was wearing clothes, or why it seemed to have the breasts of a human woman.

Sigrid was likewise shocked when she saw a woman with long blonde hair, and said woman was _well over sixty feet tall_, run on by, each step she took shaking the ground a bit. The giant woman whore a body suit that was white and purple with orange stripes here and there, and she wore a purple domino mask that had horn-like protrusions coming out from the side. There was also a woman in a leotard, and she had bunny-like accents on her person, but she did not even make the half-foreign zombie girl so much as look twice. Sigrid was more focused on having seen both the dragon fly on by, and now that giant woman run on by as well, and that woman was very clearly a true giant, easily dwarfing even Lily's still-living father.

"Well this is just great!" Sigrid exclaimed, noticing a monster run up to her from the side. Turning to face the monster, she quickly vanquished it before turning back to look back in the direction the dragon and giant went in. "Now there's both a dragon _and_ a jötunn to worry about!" After Sigrid killed another monster with Ulfberht, she saw a police car pull up, park, and a police detective step out.

Taking a fedora hat off of his head, the detective said, "Miss, what are you doing out here? Although you have done a service in helping to kill some of the monsters that are here, you need to leave the fighting to the pro heroes and the special forces that have come here to help stop the monster attack!"

"These large brutes are no issue for me," the half-foreign zombie girl replied. Pointing her bat in the direction she saw the dragon and the giant go off in, Sigrid continued, "If I were you, more concern ought to be given to the fact that I just saw both a dragon and a jötunn move past here!"

The detective, with a mildly confused look on his face, said, "What's a jötunn?"

"The giant woman, you fool!" Sigrid scolded, "Why am I one of the very few here in these lands with a warrior's vocabulary?"

"Oh, giant woman?" the detective said, "You must be talking about the pro hero Mt. Lady." Nodding twice in understanding, the detective said as he pointed in the direction that Sigrid had pointed in, "Mt. Lady, along with the pro heroes Mirko and Ryukyu, are heading in that direction, as a bank and a high-end restaurant are in that direction, and they are highly sensitive targets for the attacking monsters." As he turned back around to face Sigrid, the detective said, "Anyway, you need to-"

The detective stopped short when he saw that Sigrid had run off while he was distracted. "…I hate it when people do that," the detective muttered to himself.

* * *

Sakura and Saki had just dropped off the students fleeing from Azu-Daioh High that they had rescued. Knowing that the teens and one child were safe, the two zombie girls decided to head back to the abandoned mansion. With Saki at the wheel of Kotaro's van, she and Sakura sped off with all due haste for the safety of their home. "I have no fucking clue what the fuck is going on here, Egghead," Saki remarked, sounding an even mix of annoyed, frustrated, and a little scared for her (un)life.

Sakura simply shook her head gently. "…I wish I knew what I could tell you, Saki," the long-haired zombie girl replied, "I really do. But all of those monsters attacking all over the city, all of the fighting, the innocent people fleeing the chaos as the-" Sakura stopped short as, while she was looking out the window of the passenger door, she spotted two fairly young teens fleeing from another one of the large, hulking, muscular monsters. The reason why Sakura stopped short when she saw this in particular is because she recognized one of the young teens.

Pointing out the window to the fleeing young teens, Sakura said after getting Saki's attention, "Hey Saki, isn't that girl that Maria girl that you helped out a short while ago?"

Her attention piqued by the mention of Maria, the delinquent zombie girl turned her attention to look in the direction that Sakura was pointing out. Sure enough, Saki spotted Maria Amabuki, the daughter of Saki's old friend Reiko, back when Saki was still alive a little over twenty years ago. Maria was not wearing her long red coat, but had on everything else. Saki did not recognize the boy that was with Maria as the two of them were running from the monster that was trying to capture them for who knows what reason.

Saki and Sakura were in Kotaro's van on the road running by the riverbank that Maria and the mystery boy were running along as they tried to escape. "…Oh hell no," Saki muttered as she suddenly jerked the steering wheel, making the van go off the road and down the grassy hill leading to the riverbank, "I don't fucking think so!" The speed with which Saki drove down the side of the hill was helped further by momentum, so it eventually came to be that the delinquent zombie girl, with her aim true, rammed the van right into the monster that was chasing Maria and her mystery friend, hitting the monster with such force that she killed him right there and then.

"…Well, I can't argue with results," Sakura remarked, feeling a little bit uncomfortable with exactly how Saki killed the monster thus saving Maria and the mystery boy. With the monster dead and Kotaro's van shut off, Saki and Sakura got out of the van and went over to the two young teens, with Maria right away recognizing Saki and Sakura.

Pointing at Saki, Maria said, "You're the girl that nearly wrecked my mom's motorcycle if it hadn't been for my cousin jumping in front of you and catching it!"

"Yeah, yeah, that's me," Saki said dryly, "But that's beside the point." Pointing to Maria and the mystery boy, Saki continued in a serious tone, "We're here to get you and your little friend here the hell out of here. There is no way that you kids should be out while there's a bunch of those big ass monsters all milling the hell about in the city."

"Yeah, my boyfriend Sasuke here and I are looking to get to safety," Maria replied with a nod.

Saki, despite the seriousness of the situation, had her interest piqued in an amused manner. "Oh?" the delinquent zombie girl said, "This guy here's your boyfriend, you say?"

The boy with Maria, apparently named Sasuke, nodded once in the affirmative; he was wearing a long-sleeved male school student's uniform top, matching pants, black shoes, and he was carrying a Japanese school bag. He was slim yet had a healthy build, he had fair skin, and his hair was jet black, straight and long enough to reach the tops of his shoulders. "Yeah, Maria and I were on our way to our middle school when the monsters first showed up," Sasuke said, "We ran when we saw a monster turn the corner that we would have turned to go to school."

"Heh," Saki remarked as she turned to face Maria, "I bet your mom will be thrown for a loop when she sees you've snagged yourself a boyfriend, young lady."

"Uhhg," Maria scowled, "Geez, we've already gotten over that hump. I already introduced him to my mom." Crossing her arms over her chest, Maria said, "I brought him over to my family's place and was all like, 'Mom, this is my boyfriend Sasuke Minamoto', then he was all proper and stuff and trying to be a good model person that my mom wouldn't be up-" Maria stopped short out of curiosity when as she looked over at Sakura, she noticed that the long-haired girl had a look of shock on her face.

Gesturing to Sakura to get her attention, Maria asked, "Are…you okay?"

Sakura, paying Maria no mind, turned to focus her attention solely on Sasuke. "You…your name is Sasuke Minamoto?" the long-haired zombie girl asked. Sasuke, with a mildly curious and partly confused look on his face, nonetheless nodded a few times in the affirmative. Sakura looked like she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Acting a bit tentatively, Sakura continued as she addressed Sasuke, "Would…I don't suppose that the name Sakura Minamoto would mean anything to you, would it?"

Saki, when she heard her fellow undead say her (Sakura's) real name like that, perked up a bit, wondering just where Sakura was going with this. To the delinquent zombie girl's surprise, she got her answer when Sasuke nodded once and said, "Actually, yeah. My mom said that when I was three, I had an older sister named Sakura who was killed a few days after she had turned seventeen. She was hit by some manner of vehicle from what the police report said, but I don't know anything beyond what I was told by my mom."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Sasuke gave the long-haired zombie girl a curious look before he asked, "How do you know that I not only had an older sister who died well over a decade ago, but you also know her name?"

"…Yeah, I want to know, too," Maria remarked.

"We can discuss that stuff later," Saki said as she jerked a thumb over her shoulder to point out Kotaro's van, "For now, we really have to get the fuck out of here before more monsters show up and try to wreck our shit." Everyone else nodded in agreement with Saki before they all piled into Kotaro's van. With Saki at the wheel, the van roared to live before speeding off, driving back up the grassy hill, getting back onto the road, and driving away from that area. Eventually, Saki was able to get Maria and Sasuke to the safety of Maria's place before leaving with Sakura to go back to the safety of the mansion.

Saki and Sakura never did give the young teens that explanation, by the way.

* * *

By late afternoon, all of the zombie girls, all in their true forms as zombies, were lying about in the futon room of the abandoned mansion; the fighting had ended, and with the pro heroes and various Special Forces cleaning up the mess, there was no need for the zombie girls of Franchouchou to get involved with anything else. Hikari, using her smartphone, learned that the leader of the monsters, some fellow by the name of Hirajo, was killed by Azu-Daioh High student Tsukune Aono, but that's about it.

It was as the ten zombie girls were all lying about the room that the door was suddenly kicked open, startling all of them and making them look up to see Kotaro storm into the room. The look on the face of the eccentric man was unreadable. He let out a sigh before he began to address all of the girls.

"…All things considered," Kotaro began, a slight yet somewhat noticeable hint of annoyed strain in his tone, "You girls did a lot of good. There are a few news articles circulating as we speak that goes on about how a lot of you helped out with getting innocent people to safety, or going to great lengths to protect the innocent when fleeing right away wasn't exactly an option. Even so, all of the good that a lot of you girls did today has certainly gotten the attention of the populace of Japan as a whole. Popularity wise, things are looking better than ever for 'Saga Stories'."

The ten girls of Franchouchou lit up a bit when their manager told them that, because of their heroism this day, they had gotten so much good publicity for their show. Gesturing around the room, Kotaro continued on in the tone that he had been using thus far, "There's the fact that Ai and Junko, both of whom had overcome their respective phobias to an extent in the process, saved a woman's ten-year-old autistic child from a burning building then got said woman and her child to safety. I was able to work out a deal with the guy whose car Junko hijacked, by the way, so no need to worry about that loose end."

"Hot damn, Junko!" Saki laughed as she turned to face the Showa idol zombie girl, "You actually stole someone's car and drove it around?!" Holding up her right hand for a high five, Saki said, "Well color me impressed! High five!"

With a small smile, Junko accepted the high five as she said, "Well given what was going on, it was the best I could come up with for me and Ai to get that woman and her son to safety." The other girls of Franchouchou all nodded in a manner to show that they were impressed with what Junko did with Ai to get those civilians to safety; Ayumu seemed particularly happy with the two idol zombie girls.

Pointing to Sigrid, Kotaro said, "Normally, I would object to what Sigrid had done, given that she had personally fought and killed a total of twenty-seven of the monsters from the horde that had attacked the city before the fighting had come to an end, but that actually did a lot to garner positive attention for 'Saga Stories'."

Crossing her arms over her chest, the half-foreign zombie girl replied, "Well when I saw that there were monsters attacking, I believed that I had finally found my answer to why the All-father had permitted my return to Midgard as a draugr, even though I had already fallen in battle once before and had earned my entrance into Valhalla." Turning her head to the side, Sigrid added, "I was even lucky enough to encounter my old friend Nagi's son Sigurd and borrow from him Ulfberht, even though I had to return Ulfberht to him when my part in the fighting had come to an end."

Gesturing to Sakura and Saki, Kotaro went on, "Sakura and Saki here in particular did a lot by picking up fleeing civilians and getting them to safety. Granted, I'm a little ticked that Saki had taken my van without my knowing or permission, but with the situation today being what it was, along with the fact that Saki had hotwired my van to treat Sakura to a day out to celebrate Sakura recovering all of her memories, I'm going to let it slide."

The other zombie girls all turned to face Saki, with Lily saying, "You hotwired Kotaro's van? Why didn't you just take the keys?"

"Couldn't find them," the delinquent zombie girl replied, "Either way, Egghead and I were able to get nine students from Azu-Daioh High to safety, then we vehicular manslaughtered one of those monsters in the process of saving two middle schoolers." With an amused smirk, Saki went on, "One of those middle schoolers was my old friend Reiko's daughter Maria, and the other one was Maria's little boyfriend-"

"My little brother."

Saki was cut off when she and the others all heard Sakura speak up. They all turned to face the long-haired zombie girl, a resigned, somber look on her face. "That boy that was with that Maria girl is named Sasuke Minamoto," Sakura went on, "And he's my little brother."

"You…" Ai said, "…You met your little brother? After all of…" The Heisei idol zombie girl stopped short, gently shook her head. "…Wow, Sakura," Ai remarked in a sympathetic tone, "I can't imagine how that must have thrown you for a loop."

"Speaking of throwing people through loops," Kotaro began, the mild hint of strained annoyance in his tone becoming more pronounced, "The nine of you girls who are NOT Yugiri are going to be thrown for a loop by something Yugiri did while she was out saving a civilian from one of the attacking monsters. Not only that, but Yugiri's actions while she defeated that monster has also thrown Japan as a whole for a loop." The other nine girls of Franchouchou all turned to look at the courtesan zombie girl, some of them looking at her with looks of suspicion.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Saki growled as she wore an annoyed scowl, "Damn it, Yugiri, what the hell did you do _this_ time?"

Yugiri let out a resigned sigh, knowing that she had screwed up royally here. "…While I was wrestling with one of those monsters in order to keep him from attacking some civilians," Yugiri began, "I allowed my monster glamour to slip. One of the civilians that I was saving was a good monster, I believe he identified herself as an incubus, identified me as a zombie to the others that I was saving, a few of which are fans of our show. When some of the fans were asking some questions, I…ehh…" Poking the tips of her index fingers together, the courtesan zombie girl said, "…I told them that all ten of us are zombies."

Holding up his smartphone, Kotaro showed the girls of Franchouchou a news article that he had pulled up while Yugiri was talking to the other girls. "…Yeah, that is also spreading about you girls like wildfire," Kotaro growled in an annoyed tone, "Because of Yugiri's slipup, the word about all you girls being zombies is becoming public knowledge as we speak." The other girls of Franchouchou all gasped in shock, and Saki and Sigrid both threw pillows as Yugiri's head.

Putting his phone away, Kotaro sighed in a resigned tone. "…Thankfully, no one's freaking out about you girls being outed as zombies, mostly because the good monsters are educating the humans on how zombies in real life are nothing like how they are in fiction, emphasizing how zombie-ism is not infectious." Nodding once, Kotaro said, "The human populace is being told how there is by no means any chance of a zombie apocalypse, and that is saving you girls from having your heads hunted by overzealous zombie-hunters."

"Well that's a relief," Ayumu said.

"HOWEVER!" the eccentric man declared somewhat loudly, hands on his hips as he got all the girls to turn to face him again, "Me and a few of the lads are going to have to hold a press conference to address a lot of the mounting questions that people have in regards to you girls being zombies, mostly what all we know, how long we've been in action, what we've been up to and whatnot." Looking at all the girls, Kotaro said in a firm tone, "None of you do anything until I've cleaned up Yugiri's mess. Got it?"

The girls of Franchouchou, Yugiri in particular since she was the one who was in trouble, all nodded in agreement. Without another word, Kotaro turned around and left the futon room, thus leaving the zombie girls alone. A few seconds after Kotaro had left, the other nine girls all turned to look at Yugiri, who noted the looks that she was getting from her fellow undead.

Gently shaking her head in a disappointed manner, Sakura said, "…Really, Yugiri?"

END, SAGA STORIES CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Author's notes:

This chapter is meant to link 'Saga Stories: A tale of Zombie Land Saga' to a much larger narrative that I have been working hard on for quite some time. You'll notice that there are a lot of references to the monster attack arc in my 'Rosario Vampire Re-Vamped' story for Rosario Vampire, as well as a few details to my story 'A couple that will go down in legend' for BNHA. Sorry if some of you aren't all that fond of the idea of the girls of Franchouchou interacting with others outside of Zombie Land Saga, but the girls are going to be needed for an important role that is coming up in times and works to come.

…Anyway, this chapter also has a big development that I have had in mind for the girls of Franchouchou for quite some time, that being their being outed as zombies to the populace at large. This outing of their status is assisted by the reveal of the monster world, and the upcoming work between the governments of monsters and humanity. A press conference held by Kotaro and some of the men that he's in cahoots with will take place soon, to help get the humans in this story in particular used to the fact that some of their nation's most popular actress are actually members of the living dead; this will also play a big role in future chapters.

Won't that be fun?


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own Zombie Land Saga, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Saga Stories: A tale of Zombie Land Saga

Chapter fourteen: Things coming to light

Kotaro sat at a table along one of the sides. There were three of his men, or the 'lads' as he liked to refer to them as, going out from each side; three from his left and three from his right, for a total of seven men sitting down. The table they sat at was on a stage in a banquet room at a hotel where they were holding a press conference, the room being packed with reporters, people from various magazines and newspapers, and a few others. All of the people came to the panel to ask what questions they had.

About the ten girls that made of the cast of 'Saga Stories', the most popular live-action TV show in Japan right now.

Now, under normal circumstances, Kotaro would have no problem holding such a panel, given that he was the manager of the ten girls. However, during a recent attack by the warmonger monsters that made up the horde led by the late warlord Hirajo, one of the girls of the actress troop Franchouchou, Yugiri, accidentally let slip a secret about her and the other nine girls on the cast of Saga Stories. It was because of Yugiri's slipping of that secret that Kotaro, who was by no means happy about the cover being blown, knew that the panel had to be held so that he can address concerns that the populace of Japan may have.

About all ten of the girls of Franchouchou being zombies.

"Alright, we'll start the panel now, so we'll start taking questions," Kotaro announced, instantly eliciting a sea of hands to shoot right up into the air, accompanied by people calling for Kotaro to call on them. The manager of Franchouchou, a bit annoyed by how eager and demanding the crowd was being, decided to pick a hand at random.

The person who was called on struck Kotaro as familiar, as it was the man dressed in black, and he had long black hair and some white scarf number worn around his neck and shoulder area. "I'm Shouta Aizawa, representing U.A. High School," the man said as he gave his name, "I was at a panel a while ago where I asked about one of the girls in Franchouchou being able to detach her body parts while I was under the impression that it was because she had a quirk that allowed her to do so. Given what had recently come to light about the girls that you manage, can it be safe to say that the claims of that girl having a quirk were actually a lie to cover up the fact that she and her fellow actresses are zombies?"

"Yes, that was a lie that number one came up with quickly to help cover up how she and the other girls are zombies," Kotaro replied, "Given that we had to keep things under wraps at the time. Next question." The sea of hands went up, and Kotaro picked another one at random.

The person who was called on was a woman who looked to be in her early sixties; she had red, fang-like marks on her face, one on each cheek, wore what appeared to be the standard uniform for Konoha shinobi, and she was accompanied by a large dog that wore an eyepatch and was missing an ear. "The name's Tsume Inuzuka," the older woman said, "Since those girls are all zombies, will any of us have to worry about a potential zombie apocalypse because those girls decided to bite and/or scratch others?"

Kotaro was wondering when such a question was going to be asked, given that it was typically the first that many humans would ask about the subject. "Rest assured that zombie-ism is not infectious, despite what popular culture may show," Kotaro began to explain, showing a lack of the usual eccentricity that he is known for, "Also, there is no such thing as a zombie virus. There is no need to worry about anyone being turned or whatever. Next question."

Once more, the sea of hands shot up, and Kotaro picked one of them at random. When he saw who it was that he had picked, however, Kotaro had wished that he had picked someone else. This is because the person that the eccentric man had picked was Mr. Sagazine, the man behind Sagazine Editorial Department. Kotaro recalled how Mr. Sagazine and his magazine company had been something of a thorn in Franchouchou's side for quite some time, digging where they were not supposed to be digging, and getting fairly close to uncovering the truth of the girls all being zombies.

Kotaro could feel some sense of smug superiority, the kind of superiority that came from having one's feeling of suspecting something being validated, radiating from Mr. Sagazine, and it made him want to punch the magazine editor square in the face. Retaining his composure, however, Kotaro allowed the man to ask his question. "As many people have noticed about things before, some of the girls in Franchouchou resemble various deceased actresses and idols. With the news coming out that the girls of Franchouchou are all zombies due to the recent monster attack on the city, can you confirm if those girls who look like deceased actresses and idols actually _are_ those very girls in question?"

"I cannot confirm or deny anything at the moment in regards to that question," Kotaro replied, "And on a related note, if any of the girls of Franchouchou have any relatives that are still alive, those relatives will be the first to be informed about their daughters, nieces, sisters or whatever having been raised from the dead as zombies. This informing will be done as privately as can be managed, so as to protect the privacy of those involved in the process."

The eccentric man and his panel spent the next few minutes answering a few more questions, and Kotaro found himself having to repeat certain answers more than once. Thankfully, he had also given the people a phone number that they can call if they have any questions regarding zombies like the girls of Franchouchou, as well as any other race of monster. This phone number, which had been supplied to Kotaro by the monster world government as he's the manager of a group of monsters (zombies _are_ technically a race of undead-type monster), was a hot line one could call to learn what all to do. It had been set up by the monster world government in anticipation of all the humans wanting to ask what exactly the hell is going on, due to the advent of Hirajo.

…

Kotaro never felt more relieved in all of his life when the panel was finally over. As the room began to clear out and Kotaro and the lads were gathering their things, Kotaro was approached by Mr. Sagazine and some of the magazine editor's men. Mr. Sagazine had a look on his face that made it clear that he wanted answers, or at least wanted to say something to the manager of the popular actress troop. "Are you absolutely sure that you can't give Sagazine Monthly an exclusive on any of the girls in Franchouchou that you manage?" Mr. Sagazine asked, "Can't confirm at least one name?"

"We're trying to keep the privacy of any involved families as protected as possible," Kotaro said, his tone firm, "The last thing that we over at Saga Stories Productions want is for the private life of innocent families to be broadcast all over the nation, if not all over the world. Their privacy has to come first."

"But the readers want to know," Mr. Sagazine replied.

"They can wait if and when the case comes out," Kotaro said firmly, making it clear that he wouldn't be giving Mr. Sagazine even one scrap. The magazine editor, clearly annoyed that he wasn't able to get anything even remotely juicy to put in his company's magazine, decided to take his leave, all of his men following him. Kotaro was glad when that intrusive man finally got the hell away from him. He wasn't sure if he would have been able to resist the urge to punch that man across the face for much longer.

* * *

The girls of Franchouchou were chilling in the futon room of the mansion as Kotaro and his men came back from the panel they hosted to answer some questions that people might have now that the girls had been outed as zombies. Some of the girls, such as Junko, Ai and Hikari, all looked at Yugiri with annoyed looks, given that their being outed as zombies happened because the courtesan zombie girl had allowed her monster glamour to slip while she was saving a couple of innocent civilians during the recent monster attack on the city.

"Well I don't think that things will be as bad as we all believe, girls," Lily said as she looked around the room at her fellow undead, "I mean, the humans were reassured that zombie-ism is not infectious, and since we all proved that we aren't evil monsters like the big scary ones that were attacking the city, we'll be quick to be accepted. Oh!" The child actress zombie girl clapped her hands together, a look of realization on her face. "Maybe now I can finally tell my papa that I really am Lily! I hope that it won't shock him too much…"

Lily mentioning how she could finally tell her still-alive father that she really was who he thought she was sparked sudden realization in the minds of the other zombie girls. Some of them also had still-alive loved ones who were around when they died; family like Lily, some close friends like Saki and Sigrid, even fans of their work like Ai, Junko, Lily again and Ayumu. The idea of humans getting to once again see their lost loved ones, even though said loved ones had returned as members of the living dead, was an opportunity that would be bound to generate at least some tender crying.

Sakura, who had met her younger brother Sasuke while she and Saki rescued him and the daughter of Saki's old friend Reiko, was particularly hopeful for the shot of reuniting with her old family. Sasuke in particular, as he was three when she had died; the long-haired zombie girl had missed a little over one decade of Sasuke's life. Sakura felt guilty for having missed seeing so much of her little brother's development, even though most of her memories of him had him as a brat. Understandable, because he was _three_ when Sakura was hit by a van and was killed.

With a spring in her step, Sakura got up to her feet, stood in the room as she got everyone's attention. "Okay, people, when Kotaro-san is ready, we need to discuss with him how to go about getting in touch with family and other loved ones of ours that were alive when we all died and are still alive right now," the long-haired zombie girl began, "I'm certain that, given that the cat's out of the bag, he won't be too hard to convince to arrange for us to meet with our families and other close loved ones that we left behind."

"I…" Ayumu began, a somewhat unsure look on her face as she spoke with some trepidation in her tone. The other zombie girls, aside from the unawakened Yae who was just laying about on the floor mindlessly, all turned to regard the teen actress zombie girl. Ayumu felt like she was under a lot more pressure than normal, with so many pairs of eyes all focusing on her. Still, she had come this far, and Ayumu refused to let anything stop her.

She took a breath to steady herself before she continued. "…I would like to meet my mom again, if possible. As well as to see if she's still in contact with any of the persons she hired to help look after me while I was going through my actress career." Not that any of the other zombie girl were able to tell, but there was a hint of determination, a knowing gleam, in Ayumu's eyes as she spoke about wanting to potentially meet some of the persons her mother employed to look after the popular teen actress that she was in life.

"People to look after you?" Saki remarked in a curious tone. A second later, realization struck the delinquent zombie girl. "Oh yeah, that has to do with you being autistic, doesn't it?" Ayumu nodded in the affirmative. Saki gave an amused chuckle. "Well, it would be pretty rad if I could chill with Reiko again. Maybe take on something of a mentor role to her kid Maria, as well as Reiko's nephew Eijiro." Looking around at her fellow zombie girls, Saki said, "That nephew of Reiko's is hella awesome, able to make himself into something of a human stone boulder and keep me and Reiko's motorcycle from going over that cliff."

"I wonder if any of the fans that me, Ai, Lily and Ayumu are still interested in our work as idols and actresses," Junko remarked aloud.

A slap to someone's thigh caught the girls' attention, making all of them turn to see Sigrid, who had slapped the top of her right thigh as she gave an amused, boisterous laugh. "Mayhaps I can meet with Nagi, see how she is doing since I fell in battle so many years ago! It would indeed be grand to get to drink with my closest friend and oathsister once more!" The other girls liked how the half-foreign member of their number was rolling with the punches a lot better than they had expected, and Saki pointed out that Sigrid's friend Nagi had a son, similar to how her (Saki's) friend had a daughter.

As the zombie girls were talking about the prospect of meeting still-alive loved ones that they had respectively left behind when they died, they were caught by surprise when the door leading into the futon room was thrown open, with Kotaro and some of his men walking into the room after the bold entrance. "Okay, ladies! We got a lot to cover for something that I came up with to potentially boost the popularity of Saga Stories! Everyone down to the meeting room right now! Hup-to, hup-to! Let's go already!"

The zombie girls all gave varying airs of annoyance as their eccentric manager, showing a bit more of his trademark eccentricity now than he had since the girls were outed as zombies, was ushering all of them to the meeting room down in the basement that had that jailcell. The girls all figured that they could breech the subject of potentially arranging to meet some of their still-alive loved ones to Kotaro at some point during the upcoming meeting, provided that Kotaro was receptive to the idea.

The look in Ayumu's eyes suggested that she very much hoped that Kotaro would approve.

* * *

To the collective surprise of the girls of Franchouchou, the idea Kotaro came up with actually involved reuniting the girls with any loved ones they had left behind when they died, using that as an opportunity to boost popularity for Saga Stories, as well as work in conjunction with the monster world government in order to foster good relations between monsters and humans, an idea that was all the more urgent due to the actions taken by the late Hirajo and his hordes of warmonger-type monsters.

"Now, some of you who left loved ones behind when you died, I'm sorry to say but there had been a few passings since your respective death," Kotaro began, "Especially you Yugiri, but then again you died well over one-hundred years ago, so there's no way anyone you knew during the 1800s can still be around." The courtesan zombie girl, with a mildly somber look on her face, gave an understanding nod, as the time difference between when she died and when she returned as a zombie was rather notable.

Turning to look at Junko, Kotaro went on, "As for you Junko, your last remaining grandparent, a grandfather I believe, died in an accident at the factory that he worked at." To all of the zombie girls as a whole, Kotaro said, "That's it, thankfully enough. All other loved ones you all might remember are still alive." The zombie girls all sighed in relief, and Junko, who was upset to hear that her grandfather had died since her own death, understood that it was highly unlikely that her grandfather, had he not been killed in that accident, would still be alive anyway.

Clapping his hands together, Kotaro said, "Now, I haven't been able to contact every last loved one you girls all have yet. I was only able to do the ones for Lily, Ayumu, Junko and Ai so far." The eccentric man gave an affirmative nod. "I figured that it was best to start with the girls who were famous in life, given that they, well, were famous in life."

"I suppose that you're going to handle getting ahold of all of our loved ones, Shades?" Saki asked, drawing a confirming nod out of Franchouchou's manager. Shrugging indifferently, the delinquent zombie girl remarked, "Fair enough. I had some ideas on how to go about getting ahold of my old friend Reiko." Turning to look at Sakura, Saki continued, "And as for you Egghead, don't you, Lily and Ayumu know where Sigrid's pal Nagi lives?"

Sakura nodded in the affirmative, remembering the little quest of sorts that she and the experienced actress girls in Franchouchou had gone on in order to learn more about Sigrid, back when the half-foreign zombie girl was in a bit of a funk while wondering about her return to the land of the living. "Good," Saki remarked, "Then if push comes to shove you can just take Sigrid with you to visit her old friend."

Kotaro coughed to get everyone's attention. "Mind you, since Sigrid had died the night she killed eighty-seven members of various rival gangs, she can't be held legally liable for her actions since she died and had been dead for roughly as long as Saki had been. Still, there might be some folks who are sore about what Sigrid had done before she died, so it may be best to do any reuniting with Sigrid as low-key as possible."

The others realized that Kotaro had a point, and Saki admitted that she was rather impressed that Sigrid had such a kill count. "Anyway, girls," Kotaro went on, "This little project where you all will reunite with loved ones you had in life will actually be part of a televised special of Saga Stories. A behind-the-scenes special, if you will, showing you girls with your family and friends as the barrier between the worlds of humans and monsters is lowered. Rest assured that everyone that I spoke to on the phone has agreed to the terms, and various other arrangements will be done to help adjust things as needed."

As the girls began to try speaking over one another, making a fair bit of noise in the process, Ayumu cried out suddenly, loud enough to get everyone's attention. The girls all turned to regard the teen actress zombie girl, saw that she had her hands covering her ears as she was wincing in clear distress. Remembering that Ayumu was sensitive to loud noises, the girls, all of them now giving off a humbled and apologetic air, calmly apologized to their friend.

Kotaro held a hand out to the other zombie girls, the palm facing them, in a gesture to get them all to stop/calm down. No one said anything for a few moments, allowing Ayumu time to recover from her noise-induced freak out. As she settled down, Ayumu looked around, saw that the other zombie girls were looking at her apologetically. Also realizing that things were calm now, Ayumu nodded once and said in a sheepish manner, "…Sorry about that, girls," the teen actress zombie girl apologized, "But I don't like loud stuff."

"Which is part of why I had shot down the idea of doing the special live, in front of an audience," Kotaro said to Ayumu, the air he gave off understanding. Franchouchou's manager walked up to the autistic member of the undead actress troop, gestured to her with his right hand. "I've actually arranged for you to be the first of the girls of Franchouchou to reunite with a still-living loved one, Ayumu. You'll be sitting in a living room set with your mother, and the two of you will talk to one another about a few things, with that conversation being your part of the special that will be televised."

The teen actress zombie girl went wide-eyed with surprise when she was told that not only was she the first zombie girl to be reunited with a still-living loved one, but that it was going to be her mother. What's more, it was going to be in a calm, controlled environment set up by Kotaro who made sure to take Ayumu's needs into account so as to keep her from having a freak out. "If the idea of going first bothers you too much," Kotaro went on in the same understanding tone, "Then I can easily rearrange the order that you and the other girls-"

The manager of Franchouchou was cut off when Ayumu gently shook her head. "…There is no need to do that, Mr. Kotaro. I really want to see my mom again." There was a hint of seriousness in the teen actress zombie girl's tone, the kind of seriousness that made it very clear that she had something in mind. "I want to ask how she has been doing ever since I died. I also want to ask her how some of the people she hired to help look after me during my living career."

Kotaro was clearly oblivious to the fact that the undead autistic girl before him had something in mind, if the way he nodded in agreement and his assured smile as he nodded were any indication of that. Likewise, most of the other zombie girls were oblivious to the underlying hints that the experienced teen actress among their number was giving off. Most of the other zombie girls, as well as Tae who is always oblivious to everything due to still being unawakened, believed that Ayumu was trying to step out of her comfort zone, to try and develop better as a person.

…However, Sakura, Lily and Saki were all able to pick up on the hint that Ayumu clearly had something in mind when she said that she really did want to be the first of Franchouchou who got to reunite with a still-living loved one. Sakura and Lily were both worried about Ayumu, while Saki had the sinking suspicion that Ayumu had a chip on her shoulder, that someone had wronged her back when she was still a member of the living. Kotaro going on about how Lily was slated to be the next member of Franchouchou distracted all of the other Zombie girls, Lily most of all because she was excited of getting to reunite with her father.

Saki kept her suspicions in mind as she turned to pay attention to what Kotaro was saying as he went over the finer points of how the meetings between the girls and their respective still-living loved ones would go down. The delinquent zombie girl figured that the most she could lay claim to in terms of reuniting with a still-living loved one would be her friend Reiko, who she had met before back when she helped to get Reiko's daughter Maria to quit it with trying to follow in her footsteps as a delinquent. As far as Saki cared, she pretty much knew what all she'd do when it came to the part where she officially reunited with Reiko.

What had more of Saki's concern was her suspicions about Ayumu.

* * *

The following day was the first day of filming for the special edition of 'Saga Stories' where the girls who made up Franchouchou would have sit downs with loved ones that they left behind when they died. The fake living room set that had been set up had two armchairs across from one another at a bit of an angle so those watching could see the front sides of both persons that were having the reuniting. There was also a small table situated between the two armchairs, and it had a tray with a small selection of cookies.

As Kotaro's men got the last touches finished up, the girls, who were all in their human guises as they watched the men setting things up, heard Kotaro call out. "Hey, Ayumu! We got a guest here that I'm certain you want to see." The girls of Franchouchou all turned around, and as such they saw that Kotaro was standing next to a woman who looked basically like an older Ayumu; she looked like what Ayumu would have aged into if she hadn't died.

The woman wore a light, pastel green baggy turtleneck sweater, a pastel cream skirt that reached halfway down her shins, stockings that disappeared up her skirt, and a simple pair of black shoes. The woman also wore glasses, behind which were eyes that were watering up as she looked at the teen actress zombie girl, a look of being emotionally touched on the woman's face. Ayumu, for her part, looked just as touched as the woman, who she clearly recognized right away just as the woman recognized her right away.

The woman and the undead autistic girl ran up to each other, threw their arms around one another and hugged each other tightly. "I…I can't believe it…" the woman said through her gentle crying, "…I have you back, Ayumu. I really actually have my daughter back."

"I missed you too, mommy," Ayumu replied as her voice was breaking due to her clearly starting to cry. The other girls of Franchouchou were touched by the sight of Ayumu reuniting with her still-living mother, seeing the two embrace one another as they cried over all of the time that was taken from their lives by Ayumu's death. Some of the more emotional members of the undead actress troop, such as Sakura and Lily, started to tear up a little bit as well as they, along with the other zombie girls, all watched Ayumu reunite with her mother.

After Ayumu and her still-living mother had calmed down enough from their respective crying, Saki crossed her arms over her chest, a look on her face that was equal parts touched, amused and sympathetic. "She looks like an older version of you, Ayumu."

Ayumu and her mother turned to face the other girls, with Ayumu nodding in agreement. "Yeah everyone, this is my mom Minamo. When I first got back into acting when I was still alive, she was my manager. She handled pretty much everything."

"Well I was the only one who really knew what made my daughter tic," Minamo said to the other girls, "Not a whole lot of people, either back then or even now, have any idea on how to work with an autistic child and teen actress. There was no way ever that I was going to put my trust in some unknowing idiot with managing my daughter, so I ended up taking on the role of Ayumu's manager myself. Oh, that reminds me."

Ayumu's mother turned to face Kotaro, giving him a serious look that only a mother who was concerned with the safety and well-being of her child can give to a person. "Mr. Tatsumi, first off I have to say out of principal that I am not fond of the idea of anyone messing with Ayumu's remains, although in this case it did lead to me reuniting with her. Second off, you had better be taking any needs my daughter has into account. If you have done anything to mismanage her in the slightest, I swear that I'll-"

The eccentric man held up his right hand, the palm facing outward, towards Minamo to cut her off mid-threat. "Rest assured that I take everything about your daughter into account. Also, I'd like to say that Ayumu has been one of the easiest girls in Franchouchou to work with, even with the fact that she requires special considerations sometimes." Giving a quick glance over to where Yugiri stood, Kotaro returned his focus to Minamo before adding with some strained annoyance in his tone, "I…cannot exactly say that all of the girls in Franchouchou have been as easy to work with as your daughter."

Minamo had a satisfied smile on her face after she got that answer from Kotaro. Nodding once in acknowledgement to him, Minamo said, "Well I'm glad to hear Ayumu is doing well for herself ever since she came back." Realizing something, Minamo turned around to look at her daughter. "…Umm, sweetie, I've been told that you're apparently a zombie now, and rest assured that I and a lot of others out there know that zombie-ism is not infection or anything along those lines. However, I'm a bit surprised with how…human…you look."

"Oh, I was taught how to use something called monster glamour, which is a power monsters can learn to make themselves look human," Ayumu explained. After getting the okay from Kotaro to do so, the teen actress zombie girl released her monster glamour, showing her true, undead look to her mother. Minamo was a bit taken aback by surprise at seeing her daughter's skin become a grayish-blue and her eyes turn red, while also taking on the appearance of having been dunked in a large tub of water.

Ayumu held her arms out at her sides. "This is what I look like when I'm not disguising myself as how I looked back when I was still alive."

Minamo, though still surprised, calmed herself down with a gentle shake of her head and a smile. "…Sorry for being surprised, sweetie," Ayumu's mom said with a gentle, understanding smile, "But this _is_ my first time seeing one of the living dead. Even so, I'm just glad that for all intents and purposes, I finally have my daughter back."

Someone clapping their hands together made the girls and Minamo turn to face Kotaro. "Okay, I need to get you ladies seated in the living room set over there so we can begin shooting the first part of the Saga Stories special. If you two will be so kind as to follow me." Ayumu and Minamo both nodded in agreement as Kotaro turned to face the rest of Franchouchou. "I don't think that I need to say this, but you girls just stay off camera and watch things from the side."

The other zombie girls all agreed to Kotaro's orders, with Saki and Sigrid already taking steps to make sure Tae, in her unawakened state, didn't obliviously ruin anything. Once the other zombie girls all understood what they had to do, they found a good spot on set where they could watch Ayumu and her mother have their chat while being out of the way.

…

The camera was showing Kotaro standing in full view while holding a portrait of Ayumu in her human guise. "Due to the recent events that had taken Japan, if not the whole world, by storm due to the recent monster attack in the city," Kotaro began in a serious tone, "The existence of the world of monsters was exposed to those of the human world. Granted, the two worlds are in the process of learning to co-exist, but it's still a touch-and-go process, with a number of things being brought to light due to the insane actions of the warlord Hirajo."

Raising the picture of Ayumu that he held, Kotaro went on, "Such as how Franchouchou, the troop of actresses that star in Saga Stories, is composed entirely of girls who were all raised from the dead. One such girl is Ayumu Akarui, who many in Japan are bound to remember as the most beloved teen actress of her time. In an effort to help foster good relations between humans and the various races of monsters, the girls of Franchouchou will be sitting down with those that they knew in life that are still alive today, and we're starting with Ms. Akarui, who is reuniting with her mother Minamo."

Kotaro stepped off to the side, showing that Ayumu, in her true form, was sitting across from her mother. The idea of Kotaro holding the picture of human-Ayumu then stepping to the side to shoe what Ayumu looks like as a zombie was something that he would be doing for all of the girls that were going to reunite with loved ones that they left behind in life. Kotaro said that it was meant to help show the contrast between the zombie girls and their still living loved-ones.

Minamo, with a bit of a relieved smile on her face, gave a resigned sigh. "…You know, sweetie," Minamo began, "When I heard that one of the girls that played a role on this show was revealed to be a zombie during the monster attack, I was less surprised that I thought I would be. But then again, a bunch of big, muscular monsters were attacking the city by that point, so I guess the lack of surprise could be excused to an extent." The Akarui matriarch let out another sigh.

"…Then I heard that all of the girls on this show were zombies, and I was contacted by the producers for this show and they told me about you. At first, I was shocked, confused, had no idea what to think." Minamo gently shook her head before she went on. "…But after the other pieces started falling into place for me, I came to a single conclusion about all of this business about monsters turning out to be real."

Smiling sympathetically at her undead daughter, Minamo said as tears began rolling down the sides of her face again, "…You're back. You're actually back. I seriously have my daughter back." The Akarui matriarch wiped a tear away from the corner of her right eye. "I…I just can't believe that my only child, who I thought I would never get to see again, is back. The fact that you're some manner of sentient undead doesn't matter to me. What does matter to me is you." Minamo looked her daughter right in the eyes. Ayumu's expression, though similarly touched like how her mother's is, still held a hint of firm resolution to them.

"I'm certain that you have a lot that you want to say to me, sweetie," Minamo remarked, "So go on ahead and ask whatever you want to-"

"Do you know how Miss Kujoko is doing?"

Minamo stopped short when her undead daughter interrupted her, partly due to the interruption in and of itself, but mostly due to how surprised she was that Ayumu was asking about someone that none of the other girls in Franchouchou had any idea about. "…Oh, you mean the housemaid that I hired after your career first took off?" Minamo asked. The Akarui matriarch's expression grew bitter, to the surprise of the other girls in Franchouchou who were seeing it.

"…Kujoko was arrested a few years ago, sometime well after you died. Kujoko had been hired by the Tatsuma family, which the pro hero Ryukyu comes from. When I head about Kujoko's arrest, I was disgusted to learn that she was discovered to have secretly poisoned an eight-year-old girl who was Ryukyu's kid sister." Giving her undead daughter a curious look that now had a hint of strong suspicion in it, Minamo asked, "Ayumu, why do you-"

"She drowned me."

Everyone stopped short when the teen actress zombie girl dropped that bombshell of a reveal. The look of firm seriousness on Ayumu's face made it clear that the undead autistic girl was not joking around at all. The other girls in Franchouchou all looked shocked and surprised (aside from Tae for obvious reasons), the men that worked for Kotaro all stopped short when they all heard Ayumu said what she did. Hell, even Kotaro went slack-jawed out of sheer surprise when Ayumu say that her drowning while taking a bath was _not_ an accident.

But it was clear that the person shocked the most by Ayumu's bombshell of a reveal was her mother, who looked like she had taken a rather staggering punch to her stomach from Sigrid, and speaking of the half-foreign zombie girl she looked fit to go out and find a certain someone so she could kill said certain someone. Back to Minamo, she blinked a few times, her mouth still wide open due to sheer shock of what her undead daughter had told her just now. After a couple of moments, the Akarui matriarch was able to regain her composure.

"I…I'm sorry," Minamo began, sounding like she might get mad at someone, "Did you…you just tell me that-"

"Mom, I was there," Ayumu interrupted once again, the look of her expression and the tone of her voice making it clear that she was being serious, "Miss Kujoko forcefully drowned me while I was taking that bath. I distinctly remember seeing her angry face as she pushed me fully under the water, snarling at me." Ayumu's expression grew a bit of an angered hint as she went on, "In the few moments I was able to force my head out of the water, I heard her say that I needed to die because, in her words, that I was a retarded monster that made life for everyone looking after me a total living hell."

"Okay, cut!" Saki yelled, startling the cameraman that was filming into stopping the filming. The other zombie girls all dashed onto the set after filming was cut, with Saki looking like she would join Sigrid in going out to hunt heads. "Ayumu, are you absolutely serious about all that you said just now?" Saki asked, "Are you serious that you drowning in the bath when you died was not an accident, but rather happened because someone that your mom had hired wanted to kill you due to the fact that you're autistic?"

Ayumu said nothing, maintaining her angry, bitter expression. But she did nod a few times in the affirmative, and that was all the confirmation that Saki and the others needed to swear to find this Miss Kujoko woman and wreck her shit. Minamo looked particularly shocked by all that she had just gotten from her daughter, but when she calmed down from the shock she was very much angry at her family's former employee, even more so than when she heard of her poisoning and killing the kid sister of the Dragoon Hero.

* * *

After Kotaro was able to get everyone calmed down enough, he decided that filming Ayumu getting to reunite with her mother had to be put on hold, given that he _did_ technically have new details in the death of a teen actress that needed to be investigated. A police detective by the name of Naomasa Tsukauchi had been called in to be part of the team thrown together to look into the matter of the teen actress zombie girl's claims. Kujoko, who was serving a long sentence for her murdering of a pro hero's kid sister, was brought in for question by Naomasa.

The former housemaid was seated in an interrogation room, opposite of a table that Naomasa sat at as well. The good detective is actually a _quirked human_, and his quirk lets him know if he is being lied to by someone that he is asking questions to; this makes Naomasa excellent at the job of interrogating suspects, since he'll know from the get-go if a suspect is telling the truth or not. Kujoko, who knew that she would be stuck in prison for the rest of her life anyway, decided to not even bother trying to lie.

"Yeah, I drowned Akarui's retarded brat. So what?" Naomasa was a bit taken aback by how casually Kujoko had confessed to having drowned Ayumu. The former housemaid put her hands flat on the table that she and the good detective sat at. A look of firm, bitter annoyance was plastered over Kujoko's face. The only thing that kept Kujoko from standing up was the fact that she was handcuffed to the table she and Naomasa sat at.

"Do you honestly have any idea how much of a pain in the ass it is to have to look after a kid whose brain is all messed up?! Having to do everything a certain way and make sure certain things are always kept up with? That girl was a _fucking nightmare_ to look after. You had to walk on eggshells around her to keep her from having a total meltdown. Oh, and I'm not the only one who had issues keeping up with that retard's eccentricities. Fell free to go on ahead and ask the others that Akarui had hired to help with her messed-up brat. I know for a fact that some of them will back me on this one."

Naomasa was more and more revolted by Kujoko, mostly because his quirk was active the whole time so he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that everything that came out of the mouth of the former housemaid was true to her knowledge. The good detective gave his report to the other men at the station, and soon arrangements would be made to re-open the investigation made into Ayumu's death a few years ago.

Evidence would have to be gathered, and eventually Kujoko would have to go on trial. Seeing as how Ayumu, the girl that Kujoko had confessed to having drowned, is actually back in the land of the living, it was quite the opportunity in terms of the law, as it would the first time in the history of Japan that a zombie would be involved in the process of a trial in court. It was going to be quite the show, a murder victim giving testimony at a trial where she would see the woman who had taken her life.

* * *

When Kotaro was able to resume production for the special edition of Saga Stories that would see the girls of Franchouchou reunite with their various still-living loved ones that they had left behind when they died, he had to re-shoot the portion where Ayumu sat down with and got to talk to Minamo. Thankfully, with the burning issue the teen actress zombie girl had having been addressed, the mother and daughter pair were able to talk to one another normally, with Ayumu telling her mom about her times with Franchouchou and Minamo telling her undead daughter a few things that she had missed since she died.

After that, Kotaro was able to get through the rest of the meet-n-greets; those for Ai and Junko didn't have as much impact as the one for Ayumu, although the ratings did show that the former idol zombie girls drew a lot of attention. Lily reuniting with her father, as was expected by the other girls in Franchouchou, was a rather emotional and touching scene, made all the sweeter by the sheer contrast between the tiny Lily and her giant of a father Takeo. The large man was able to very easily cradle his young undead daughter in one arm.

Yugiri and Tae were both skipped, the former because everyone she knew was long dead, and the latter because she had no known loved ones Kotaro could find; even if the eccentric man was able to find a loved one for Tae, her still being unawakened would have made the meet-n-greet a rather difficult and awkward affair. After the experienced actresses, the former idols, the Meiji-era courtesan and the unawakened one were crossed off the list, Kotaro was able to work on the rest of the zombie girls and their meet-n-greets.

Hikari was reunited with a fifty-someodd year old aunt who was there because Hikari's mother was unavailable. There was also a hint in the attitude of Hikari's aunt that suggested that the older woman did not have all that much faith in the gamer zombie girl's parents, but then again if one remembered what Kotaro had once said to the girls of Franchouchou, then it would be easy to see why Hikari's aunt held so little faith in Hikari's mom and dad.

Saki's meet-n-greet ended up seeing her formally reunite with her old friend Reiko, who brought her daughter Maria and nephew Eijiro along. The crimson-haired boy expressed a bit of surprise at seeing Saki's zombie form, but it was out of pure curiosity. Saki likewise gave Eijiro props for his role in saving both her (Saki) and Reiko's motorcycle from going over that cliff. Reiko and Maria both expressed that they were happy that Saki was around again, and the group soon took their leave, but not before Eijiro looked at the camera and gave a shoutout to a classmate of his at the school that he goes to, the classmate in question being named Todoroki.

Sigrid had a less energetic meet-n-greet when she sat down with her old friend Nagi and Nagi's son Sigurd. The half-foreign zombie girl told her still-living friend that she is still trying to find the reason that the all-father Odin permitted her to return to Midgard as a draugr. Nagi figured that Sigrid would still keep her beliefs with her, not even being surprised that even death had no effect on curbing Sigrid's personality, Sigrid's beliefs. Near the end of the meet-n-greet, Nagi had presented Sigrid with Ulfberht, the metal baseball bat that Sigrid had carried around with her in life. The bat, which was in its carrying case, was no back in the hands of its true owner.

Sakura's meet-n-greet was last, and it saw the long-haired zombie girl reunite with her mother, who was basically an older, blonde-haired Sakura, and the zombie girl's still-living kid brother Sasuke. The still-living Minamotos were surprised that Sakura was around again, but after the initial shock had faded, Sakura's mother told her undead daughter that she was free to come on by the house (the Minamoto family still lived in the same house that they had lived in back when Sakura was still alive) at any time.

Sure, things were far from gentle for the girls of Franchouchou over the course of their journey ever since they started as the troop composed entirely of undead actresses. And that journey was rougher for some than others. But they had each other, and now they also had the confidence of their still-living loved ones. With the living being in their lives, as well as the fact that they had each other, the girls of Franchouchou were primed to handle whatever may come their way.

END, SAGA STORIES CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Author's notes:

With the fact that, in this story's setting, the girls were outed as zombies, it was necessary to address a few things, cover a few loose ends. This chapter is the starting point (don't go thinking that this chapter is a one-all cure, I got more to do) for the process of the zombie girls getting back into the swing of things from their old lives back when all of them were still counted among the number of the living.

Speaking of setting, this story shares the same setting as some of my other works, as you may have noticed. That all will be covered more later. Anyway, I wanted to use this chapter to shed more light on Ayumu, the teen actress to Lily's child actress. I had a lot in mind when I was working on Ayumu's character, with one of said things being the reveal in this chapter of how she had really died. I had it as a murder-by-drowning for a while, and with Ayumu alive (in a sense) to give her side of the story, I was able to show that not even death can stop justice.

But more on that topic when the time comes. Anyway, the next chapter will see Saki take the starring role, with Hikari of all people playing the support role to everyone's favorite delinquent zombie girl. You'll have to wait for the next chapter to see why these two girls are the main and supporting characters for that adventure.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own Zombie Land Saga, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Saga Stories: A tale of Zombie Land Saga

Chapter fifteen: Arcade Anarchy

The Saga Stories project has shot way up in popularity in Japan as of late. This is due to a number of factors; the actions that some of the girls of Franchouchou took during the recent monster attack on the city, the girls having been outed as zombies, reassurance from the rest of monster kind that zombies are totally unlike how human pop culture has depicted them, a Saga Stories special that recently aired that humanized the girls by reuniting them with still-living loved ones that they left behind back when they died, and so-on.

Kotaro, the somewhat eccentric man that had been running the Saga Stories project ever since the very beginning, was worried that things would take a turn for the worse if the girls were ever outed as zombies. So color him surprised that the girls coming out and revealing what they really were had the opposite effect of what he had feared. The general acceptance of the undead actress girls, now that everyone knew about the world of monsters as a whole, is part of why Kotaro was now allowing the girls of Franchouchou more freedom, whereas before the girls were all largely confined to the mansion whenever they weren't doing actress work.

With the new found freedom to get out more, Saki decided to take advantage of it by going for a stroll. She was in her human form, so as to keep people from freaking out from seeing a random zombie wandering around. The delinquent zombie girl found herself walking along a path that had struck her as familiar, yet she had no idea why she felt a strong sense of nostalgia. As Saki continued to make her way along her path, she started hearing some noises that, again, stoked the fires of her memory. Saki's eyes narrowed a bit, giving her a suspicious look.

"…Why the hell do I feel a strong sense of déjà vu?" Saki muttered to herself, deciding to follow the noises that she was hearing, getting closer and closer as the noises grew more and more loud. She turned a corner, and soon spotted something that not only answered her suspicions but put a look of surprised delight on her face. Saki spotted an arcade that was just up ahead, the décor and people crowding around it a telltale sign.

Saki snapped her fingers in a gesture that showed she was excited. "Oh hells yes, the arcade that I used to hit up all the time is still in business!" Figuring that she had some time before she was expected back at the mansion, the delinquent zombie girl decided to head right over to the arcade to check out what all had changed in the twenty or so years since she had died. Walking inside of the arcade, Saki was taken aback by the mix of familiar surroundings and unfamiliar additions.

Some of the old arcade games she remembered were still here, although one or two did show signs of age. There were also a number of new arcade games that Saki did not remember. It had stuck Saki as odd, seeing both new and old games, unrecognized and very familiar, all in the same location, one that was both vintage and new. "…Well I'll be damned," Saki muttered to herself, "Times really have changed, haven't-"

Saki found herself cut off when one of the teens who was playing one of the arcade games spotted her. "Hey, isn't that one of those zombie girls who stars on that one TV show?" the teen called out loudly, making a lot of people all look around out of excitement out of getting to see a TV actress. Soon enough, some of the other arcade patrons spotted Saki and began swarming her, and seeing the swarm alerted the rest of the arcade patrons to where Saki was located, which led to more people rushing over to Saki.

After getting the crowd to calm down, Saki said, "Heh, sorry if me coming here distracted you all. I was just out for a walk when I saw that the arcade that I used to hit up all the time was still in business, so I figured I'd stop in to check it out, see how things changed."

"You used to come to this arcade?" one of the girls that came over to see a TV actress asked, sounding surprised.

Nodding in the affirmative, Saki replied, "Yeah, this place was in business back when I was still alive. And hoo boy, looking around I can see that some things have changed." To the crowd of fans that had gathered around her, Saki said, "You know, I'm in the mood to try some of the games here, but things might not be exactly as I remember, even in regards to the games that I saw here back when I was human. I don't suppose any of you would mind showing me around and tell me how things work so I won't look like an idiot later?"

Right away, a number of hands and cheers went up from the gathered fans, all of them clamoring for the chance to get to spend the day with a popular actress. As Saki scanned the sea of hands that had gone up, she saw someone try to make their way through the crowd to see her up close. Saki was about to tell that person off for trying to push the others away, but before a word left her mouth, Saki saw that it was Hikari, one of her fellow zombie girls.

"Hikari? Saki said, a bit surprised to see another one of the Franchouchou girls here at the arcade, "What are you doing here?"

"I was bored, so I figured I'd come to the arcade here," the gamer zombie girl replied with a shrug, "I've come here a few times before after I had awoken when I was raised from the dead, at least whenever I got the chance."

Saki was taken a bit aback out of surprise that one of her fellow Franchouchou members had found the old arcade that she herself would hit up back when she was alive. As the crowd began to recognize that Hikari was also one of the zombie girls that starred on Saga Stories, they got even more excited as there were two popular actresses right in front of them. "I heard what you said that you used to come to this arcade back when you were still alive," Hikari remarked to Saki, "Which makes a little sense to me since I saw that one of the older games here has your name entered as one of the high scores."

"Dude, one of the scores I left on a game here is still standing?" Saki asked, amazed that a record of something she had left back when she was still alive was still standing.

Hikari nodded a few times in the affirmative. "It was actually the top score." The gamer zombie girl gave her delinquent counterpart a bit of a smug, self-amused look. "…Up until I beat it and got the top score myself, that is."

"Oh ho, is that a challenge?" Saki asked, clearly amused by Hikari's attitude. Clapping her hands together, Saki said as she pointed to Hikari, "Since you said that it was a game that had my name as the top score, I should be familiar with how it plays. Just give me a minute to go and get some hundred-yen coins, then I'll reclaim the top score!"

Hikari gave Saki a wry look in response to her declaration; similarly, some of the gathered teens were muttering in confusion. "…The game was changed to use tokens now, just like some of the newer games here," Hikari pointed out to Saki.

The delinquent zombie girl, a mildly embarrassed look of surprise on her face, briskly shook her head after looking at Hikari for a few moments before refocusing on her. "Well it's been a little over twenty years since I last stepped foot into the arcade," Saki defended, "I had no idea that the arcade switched to a mainly token-based system! I need to be caught up on all of the changes that have occurred since then and now!" Hikari nodded in understanding before she took Saki over to a token machine so that they could get some game tokens in order to play some of the games in the arcade.

* * *

Over at the mansion, Sakura was walking into the kitchen area to grab a snack when she saw that Sigrid was sitting at the island counter, drinking from a drinking mug full of cola. There was a box from a bakery sitting in front of the half-foreign zombie girl. Pointing to the box, Sakura asked, "You went to a bakery, Sigrid?"

"The elfish man who manages our clan got this," Sigrid replied while pointing to the bakery box, "He just asked me to make sure the unawakened draugr doesn't mess with it."

Nodding in understanding, Sakura went to a cabinet, got out a can of Sunhoney Root Beer, then sat down at the island counter on the side opposite of Sigrid. Looking at the box, Sakura asked, "What's in here, might I ask?"

Sigrid shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "Don't know, didn't check or ask." Arching a wry eyebrow at the long-haired zombie girl, Sigrid said, "I assume you won't touch anything in the box if I permit you to check, yes?"

Sakura confirmed that she would leave everything in the bakery box alone, drawing a nod of approval from Sigrid to open the box to see what was inside. Sakura saw that it contained a selection of muffins, the fairly big ones that were on a food table off to the side whenever a scene for an episode of Saga Stories was being filmed. Sakura spotted a blueberry muffin among the number, remembering that blueberry muffins were Ayumu's favorite snack; the teen actress zombie girl always had one every day, and always at three PM.

Sakura, nodding to herself in an understanding manner, closed the bakery box. "I can see why Kotaro wouldn't want Tae to mess with this." Gesturing to Sigrid, Sakura asked, "So how have you been doing this morning?"

"I saw the unawakened draugr growl at the harlot draugr earlier," Sigrid began, "But then I learned that the harlot draugr finished off a bag of dried squid snack." Shrugging, Sigrid added, "It was no big deal." The long-haired zombie girl smiled a bit, happy to see that Yugiri was still continuing to shape up; the incident with Tae that Sigrid spoke of was by no means caused by the courtesan zombie girl making a mistake brought on by her lack of understanding things that have changed since the Meiji era.

Rolling her shoulders a bit, Sigrid went on, "Also, I'm to accompany Nagi's son Sigurd to a sports supply store. You see, since Ulfberht had been returned to me by Nagi, her son now lacks a bat for when he and his friends practice baseball. I am to go with Sigurd to help him pick out a new bat with which he and his team shall bring their opponent to kneel on the diamond."

Sakura was a bit amused by what Sigrid was set to do later; the half-foreign zombie girl was going to accompany her still-living friend's son to go get some new sporting equipment. Sakura even thought that it sounded a bit like a date, but she knew better than to believe that. "Well, so long as you and Sigurd know what you'll be doing," Sakura replied, "Just so you know, some of us have been recognized out in public ever since the special for Saga Stories aired, so don't be all that surprised if you and Sigurd are interrupted by folks looking to-"

The long-haired zombie girl was cut off when she and Sigrid heard the front door of the mansion open. A few moments later, Saki and Hikari entered the kitchen, both of them carrying one armful each of what were clearly prizes that were won at an arcade. "Hot damn, Hikari and I made a killing at the arcade today!" Saki cheered as she proceeded to dump her prizes onto the island counter, followed by Hikari doing the same.

After apologizing for the mess she and Saki made, Hikari noticed the box from the bakery that sat on the counter, pointed at it. "You two went to the bakery?"

"No, Kotaro did," Sakura said, "It's a bunch of muffins. Also, I'm certain that the blueberry muffin inside is for Ayumu."

"Oh yeah, that's Ayumu's three-o-clock snack, isn't it?" Saki remarked, remembering what Sakura was talking about.

After Sakura confirmed that Saki got it right, she looked at all of the stuff that Saki and Hikari had brought back with them. "I take it that you girls went to an arcade together and had a really fun time there?"

"Actually, I went to the arcade on my own," Saki explained, "I walked past it, remembering it as the arcade that I would hit up all the time back when I was still a human. I was feeling a little bit nostalgic, so I decided to check it out, see what had changed." The delinquent zombie girl jerked a thumb at the gamer zombie girl. "Hikari here was already in the arcade, and helped me get use to all of the changes that had happened since I died way back when."

Hikari nodded in confirmation. "It was sort of like teaching an older parent or perhaps even a grandparent how to play some of the games, how some of the newer arcade features worked."

Saki crossed her arms over her chest, gave a sarcastic huff. "Geez, remind me that I'd be a mom in my forties if I hadn't died, why don't you." There was a bit of playful banter between Saki and Hikari as the two went about getting something to wat, although Sakura did remind them that they had to clear their stuff that they got at the arcade off of the island counter. Sakura was a bit surprised to see Saki getting along with Hikari specifically.

Sure, Saki was agreeable enough with all of the girls of Franchouchou as a whole (Saki's patience was tested occasionally from time to time), but Sakura just didn't see Saki building such a rapport with Hikari. The long-haired zombie girl was sort of playing off of stereotypes as she thought about this; she imagined Saki as the typical schoolyard bully and Hikari as the kind of person who would be given the 'nerd' label due to not going out when she could and preferring to stay inside to play video games.

But Saki and Hikari were getting along as if they were thick as thieves; maybe their shared love for the arcade helped to bridge a gap between the two undead actresses? Sakura felt happy to see that two of her fellow zombie girls were getting along so well, and also felt a bit guilty that she thought that her stereotype-way of thinking would have actually interfered with the friendship between the delinquent and the gamer. Still, Sakura actually didn't know all that much about any of her fellow zombie girls. And she was a bit curious to learn more.

"Hey Saki," Sakura asked, getting the delinquent zombie girl's attention, "I didn't know you were all that into going to arcades. I thought that your interest in video games was limited to just those little Tamagotchi things."

Saki, with a self-amused look on her face, gave a chuckle as she turned to face Sakura. "Oh, silly Egghead. There is loads that you do not know about the awesomeness that is the story of my life before I bit it big time in that game of Chicken so long ago." By that point, Saki and Hikari had finished clearing away their prizes so that they could sit down and eat something with Sakura and Sigrid. Gesturing to the girls, Saki said, "As you girls all should know, I was without a doubt one of the baddest girls that ruled the road back when I was still alive. Hell, I'd probably be one of the baddest girls on the road today if I had gone in that direction. But I wasn't just nothing but riding my motorcycle, eating Drive-In Tori and being a punk." With a look of remembrance on her face, Saki said, "Dorami and I would hit up the arcade all the time…"

(FLASHBACK)

(DATE: JUNE 10th, 1997)

Saki, Reiko and two other girls from Dorami were at the arcade, relaxing by playing some of the arcade games. In the flashback, Saki was playing the game that she got the high score on that had stayed as the high score until Hikari ended up beating it. "The girls and I would hit up the arcade if we wanted to relax and have some fun," Saki's voice said as it narrated the flashback, "Times back then actually made it that Dorami's frequent presence at the arcade kept it from being hit by rival gangs and other troublemakers. Our protection of the arcade was more effective than police trying to keep delinquent activity to a low."

The flashback then shifted to a scene where Saki and her Dorami friends were sitting in a concession area of the arcade, enjoying some sodas. "Those days that I spent at the arcade with Reiko and the other girls of Dorami were some of the best. It's part of why I was both surprised and glad to see that the old arcade I went to all the time was still standing. I thought that it would have fallen victim to the tough times between my death and my strolling by it by chance earlier this morning."

(FLASHBACK OVER)

Sitting at the island counter at the mansion with Sakura, Sigrid and Hikari, Saki said as she finished her story, "Now that I know that the old place is still up and running, I may go there whenever I need to get out of the mansion. Granted, the modernization touches that were added since I had died will take me some time to get used to, but the old arcade still feels like one of the homes away from home that I remember from when I was still alive."

The other three zombie girls all looked amazed that Saki had such a deep fondness for a staple of the life that she used to have back when she was still human. Hikari, in particular, nodded in a show of approval. "I've actually been going to that arcade for a while now, shortly after I had awoken as a zombie and had mastered the Monster Glamour skill. My death was far more recent compared to yours, so I can still say that my experiences with video games left me seeing the idea of going to a traditional arcade like that as retro. Regardless, my love for gaming left me wanting to do the quote unquote 'retro' thing and hit up an arcade."

"Heh, yeah well you going to my old arcade regularly was pretty good, as it gave you an understanding of how things worked," Saki remarked, "With all of the modernization touches that happened, I would have been lost if you weren't there to show me around. I felt like a stranger in familiar lands." The delinquent zombie girl took a sip of her drink, shuddered a bit but not due to what she was drinking. "I can't believe how much of a fossil I've become, even though I'm permanently stuck at eighteen."

"Oh, don't be like that, Saki," Sakura remarked, "Things are bound to change and progress in a period as long as what you had been dead for. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Saki nodded to Sakura in acknowledgement, thankful that the long-haired zombie girl was being so sympathetic to her. Clapping her hands together, Saki said, "Oh, there's going to be this big ol' gaming tournament at the arcade this Saturday, and Hikari and I were both planning to look into entering it."

Nodding in the affirmative, Hikari explained to Sakura and Sigrid, "We both saw a poster that showed what the prizes will be, and the both of us are very excited to win some of those prizes." The gamer zombie girl turned to look at her delinquent counterpart. "I believe that the prize of a classic Tamagotchi game caught your attention?"

Saki pointed in a commending manner to Hikari. "You're damn straight it does! It looks just like the one that I entrusted to Reiko shortly before I was killed playing that game of Chicken long ago, and I'm eager to get a new one." Crossing her arms over her chest, Saki added with a huff, "I bet my old one is long dead by this point…"

"Well here's hoping that Odin will see you through on your quest for a nostalgic treasure," Sigrid said to Saki, before draining the rest of her mug of Moonberry Cola. Setting her mug down, the half-foreign zombie girl turned to look at Hikari, arching a wry eyebrow. "…What of you, gamer draugr? We have heard Saki's tale for her love of games, got her side of the story. I would be interested in hearing what tale in that regard that you have to offer." Sakura and Saki both turned to look at Hikari with curious looks, like what Sigrid was doing.

The gamer zombie girl looked a bit troubled and resigned, looking down and to her left as three pairs of undead eyes were on her. Finally, Hikari let out a resigned sigh, figuring that she didn't have a lot of options to get out of this one. "…Honestly, the reason that I got into video games as much as I have is because there was little else for me to do in my free time back when I was still alive," Hikari said, "I…didn't get out much."

Sakura and the two tough girl zombies looked a bit confused by what Hikari had said. "…Oh, I guessing that your asthma from when you were alive limited your ability to get out and do a lot, huh?" Sakura half-asked, half-guessed.

Hikari shrugged a bit. "Eh, that was part of it, yes. Another part had to do with the fact that I…" Stopping short, Hikari sighed as she thought about what to say next. "…You remember what Kotaro said when we were asking him if he knew that Lily used to be Masao, right? About him confirming something about me because he thought that's what you girls were going to ask him about that night?"

The three other zombie girls at the island counter all looked like they were trying to recall what had happened back then. Sakura and Sigrid stopped thinking when Saki said, "Oh, I remember!" With a bit of a mildly unsure, mildly uncomfortable look on her face, the delinquent zombie girl went on, "Shades said something about you being inbred, right?" Both Sigrid and (especially) Sakura looked shocked as they were reminded about what Kotaro had revealed concerning the parentage of the gamer zombie girl.

"…Yeah, my birth parents were brother and sister," Hikari replied, looking a bit downcast and embarrassed, "From the same set of parents. By some miracle I didn't have any of the problems associated with those who are inbred, but I was still regarded as something of an outcast by some of my extended family, as well as my grandmother. Only my aunt, who is the middle child with my mom as an older sister and my dad as the youngest, and my grandfather regarded me without any care for the truth of my parentage."

The other zombie girls at the island counter looked a bit concerned, having had no idea that Hikari's life from when she was human had so many twists. Hikari then got up from the island counter, saying that she wanted to be alone for a bit, and took off from the kitchen, saying that she'd collect what prizes of hers she got at the arcade she was leaving in the kitchen later. After the gamer zombie girl had left, Sakura looked to Saki and Sigrid with a mildly worried look.

The look on the long-haired zombie girl's face made one thing clear to the resident tough girls of the actress troop Franchouchou. "…Girls, we need to go see Kotaro and ask him for what all he has about Hikari."

* * *

Kotaro, as well as some of the men working under him, were setting up a set for a scene that was going to be shot for an upcoming episode of Saga Stories. Since no filming was actually being done at the moment, he was free to talk to for the most part, which is why he was able to give some of his time to Sakura and Saki; Sigrid had to leave for her prearranged outing with Nagi's son Sigurd to help him pick out a new baseball bat.

The eccentric man was a bit surprised when Sakura and Saki explained to him their concerns about Hikari, about them wanting to know more about the life she had lived as a girl who was inbred. "…What little I do know is that bringing Hikari into the world was her mother's doing," Kotaro said, sounding a bit more serious than he normally did as he turned to face Sakura and Saki, "Hikari's mom took her younger brother, who is Hikari's dad, to a wild teen party. After he had passed out from drinking, she proceeded to do the dark deed."

"Wait a minute, Kotaro-san," Sakura began, a confused, suspicious look of mild shock on her face, "You mean to tell me and Saki here that a girl wanted to get pregnant by her own brother _intentionally_?"

Nodding in the affirmative, Kotaro replied, "Indeed. Hikari's father actually had no idea what had happened, what his own sister was up to. Hell, he didn't even know that Hikari was also his daughter until Hikari was rushed to the hospital when she was five, due to having suffered her first asthma attack at the time. Needless to say, there was a good bit of heated discussion in the family that night."

Both Sakura and Saki looked like they were mulling over what they had been told. "…So Hikari's dad never intentionally played any part in whatever crazy scheme her mom was trying to cook up," Saki said.

"Exactly, Saki," Kotaro answered in the affirmative, "Also, you won't believe how accurate you were just now by calling what Hikari's mom was up to a 'crazy scheme'." Gesturing to the two zombie girls that stood before him, Kotaro began to explain to them, "You see, girls, a long time ago there was actually this cult that had been operating in the shadows of Japanese society for a good long while. A group that called themselves the Cult of Sinborn."

"Cult of…" Sakura said, both her and Saki looking confused, "…Sinborn?"

"Cult of Sinborn, yes," Kotaro replied, "They were a cult that believed that Japan was a dying nation, that it was being corrupted from within by sin. They sought to save Japan from the sin that they believed was killing it from within." With a solemn sigh, Kotaro said, "Hikari's mom was a member of the Cult of Sinborn."

Saki crossed her arms over her chest, an annoyed, suspicious look on her face. "Alright, so how does Hikari herself factor in to all of the crazy bullshit that her mother got herself into?"

Gesturing to the girls, Kotaro said, "You see, girls, the members of the Cult of Sinborn believed in the doctrine preached by their leader. This doctrine said that Japan could be saved from its death by the sin that was corrupting it from within by someone who was born of sin. _A death by sin could only be stopped by a birth by sin_. That was the motto of the Cult of Sinborn, a motto that the cultists intended to fulfill like some sort of dark prophesy."

Sakura and Saki both looked shocked by what they had been told by Kotaro. "…I think that I remember hearing some people say that it's considered sinful to have a kid with one's sibling," Sakura remarked, "That children who are inbred are the product of sin." The long-haired zombie girl was looking down at the floor as she spoke, but then turned to look back up at Kotaro. "I'm guessing that this cult believed that their hero who would supposedly save the country had to be an inbred child?"

"The leader of the Cult of Sinborn entrusted the task of bringing the cult's hero into the world to Hikari's mother, as she was the only one who had the means to actually go about 'saving Japan' as the cult believed would happen," Kotaro explained in a grim tone after affirming Sakura's guess, "And as you girls can see, Hikari's mother was successful, as we now have the legendary gamer girl as a member of Franchouchou."

Kotaro turned to face away from Sakura and Saki, his back to the two of them. "…It was a dark time for Japan back then, though many did not see the signs for what they were. Back then, I was already hard at work in my efforts to save Saga, so my lover at the time told me about a group that he was a member of, saying that they had a plan that would save all of Japan. Since that also meant Saga would be saved as well, I decided to check it out, only to discreetly leave as soon as I could when I saw the crazy show that it was."

"…You almost joined a cult that had one of its members give birth to an inbred child because of some cockamamie scheme the cult's leader cooked up, Shades?" Saki asked, a confused and mildly suspicious look on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Almost, yes," Kotaro replied, "But the Cult of Sinborn was crazy, even by my standards. I politely told my lover that I was not interested in joining his club." Shrugging, Kotaro went on, "Me not joining ended up working for the best, as the cult was soon afterwards hit with a series of unfortunate events. First thing was that my suspicions that the Cult of Sinborn was all just one big scheme ended up turning out to be true, as the cult leader was basically running one big ol' scheme to con the members who joined out of money. He also was able to get away with various collections. To this day, I have no idea what became of that man."

Scoffing in an incredulous manner, Saki said bitterly, "Figures."

"Second off," Kotaro went on, "Shortly after the cult leader made himself scarce with all of the money he made off with, most of the cult members, including Hikari's mother, was arrested by the police for various charges. Those arrested are still in prison to this day, aside from a few who had died due to various causes. I have confirmed that Hikari's mother is among the arrested cultists that are still alive. She knows that Hikari has been raised from the dead to be a member of Franchouchou."

Sakura and Saki nodded in understanding; they had been told that Hikari's mother was contacted for the Saga Stories special that had recently aired, but were told that Hikari's mother would not be available. Hearing what Kotaro was telling them now answered a lot of questions for the two zombie girls.

Looking up at Kotaro, Sakura asked, "Saki and I were also curious about what Hikari said about how she didn't get to go out all that much back when she was human. Would you know anything about that, Kotaro-san?"

"This was back when the Cult of Sinborn was still active," Kotaro said, "But the cult leader, as he was wanting to maintain his scheme, had convinced Hikari's mother to keep her as secluded as possible, for the purposes of 'keeping her pure' so she would be ready to save Japan when the time came. Her schooling was strictly monitored, and she was not allowed out for anything that the cult leader had 'deemed' was an unnecessary outing. This meant that Hikari's social life was pretty much non-existent. She grew up without ever having made a single actual friend, and all of the free time she found herself with she decided to put into video games, as it was a way to keep herself entertained that did not require her to 'go out unnecessarily'."

Sakura and Saki were getting more and more disgusted with what all that they were hearing about the life that had been thrusted upon Hikari, all because some crazy bastard had been able to charm a lot of gullible folks into joining his cult, which was nothing more than an elaborate piggy bank to the man. Kotaro, seeing the looks of disgust on the faces of the two zombie girls, decided to finish up the story on as much of a high note as he could manage.

"…Of course, Hikari's life ended up becoming a lot more free after the Cult of Sinborn was busted by the police. She was taken in by her aunt, one of her few relatives in her extended family that did not see her as a living abomination. Even with the vastly extended freedom that she now had on her hands, Hikari was still a bit of a recluse, having grown rather accustomed to the shut-in lifestyle consisting mostly of playing video games. Hikari lived there with her aunt from that point on, up until she had a fatal asthma attack a few years ago. Thought the time that Hikari had left in her human life was short, it was truly her life."

Sakura and Saki both felt rather sorry that the life that Hikari had back when she was still alive was as terrible and confined as it was, that she only truly had the freedom she needed for just a few years before she had that fatal asthma attack. The two of them were also quite shocked that Hikari had _literally_ not made a single friend over the course of her entire human life, having only video games to keep her going. It made the two of them happy to know that Hikari, who had been a part of Franchouchou since the beginning of the Saga Stories project, finally got to have the chance to socialize, to make friends.

…But at the same time, Sakura and Saki both felt bad about that, as it meant that Hikari had to literally die then be raised from the dead as a zombie in order to finally get what many would agree was a basic human need/right. It really says something if a person's quality of life actually _improved_ by becoming a member of the living dead. The two girls both turned to look at their group's manager, with mildly concerned looks.

"The best thing that you and the rest of Franchouchou can do for Hikari," Kotaro began, able to tell ahead of time what the girls were going to ask him, "Is continue to be there and support her, just as the two of you have done for each other and for every other member of your actress troop. Continue with being a friend to Hikari as you have been doing so far, as you're literally some of the first real friends that Hikari has ever had."

"Right," Sakura nodded in agreement, with Saki nodding alongside her. Turning to face Saki, the long-haired zombie girl said, "Saki, we need to find Hikari right away."

"Got it," Saki replied as she followed Sakura out of the set room that everyone was in. As he watched Sakura and Saki depart, Kotaro felt that he had definitely made the right choice when he included Sakura among the girls that he had raised to help with the Saga Stories project.

* * *

A few days later, the day of the gaming tournament at the arcade had finally come. Both Saki and Hikari were excited, as they both had their eyes on some of the offered prizes. Sakura, as she had some investment to see Hikari develop past her history and become a better version of herself, decided to go to the arcade as well and watch her and Saki take part in the tournament to win some awesome prizes.

To Sakura's piqued interest, there was a few TV media vans parked outside of the arcade by the time she, Saki and Hikari had arrived. As they later found out from the arcade's manager, he had the idea of letting the media know that two of the zombie actresses from Saga Stories had been entered in the tournament today. He was hoping that, by associating his business with the widely popular undead cast of Saga Stories, his business would attract more patronage.

It didn't take too long after Sakura, Saki and Hikari saw the news media vans parked outside of the arcade for Kotaro, bringing some of his men and the rest of Franchouchou along for the ride, to pull up at the arcade, Kotaro and the other zombie girls in his van, and Kotaro's men in a few cars that they had. As the eccentric manager of Franchouchou had to work some stuff out with the arcade's manager, the ten zombie girls were all in the concession are of the arcade, with Lily, Ai and Junko even greeting some fans that came to the arcade just to see the zombie actresses.

While Lily and the undead idols did their thing, the other zombie girls were seated at a table, watching as Hikari pulled out her special hat and put it on. "I always wear this hat whenever I get into some serious gaming," the gamer zombie girl explained, "Especially if I'm entering some sort of competition, like the tournament."

"Tis an interesting hat, to be sure," Sigrid remarked as she downed a large cup of soda, wiping her lips with the back of her right wrist. Giving Hikari and Saki a curious look, the half-foreign zombie girl asked, "So you two, do you believe that Odin will guide you both to victory in this competition?"

Rolling her shoulders a little bit, Saki said, "Yeah, Hikari's been helping me get used to all of the changes here at the arcade. And the game that will be used for the tournament is actually one of the old games that I remember from back when I was still alive. Once I brushed up on it and got used to how it now uses arcade tokens rather than hundred-yen coins, all of my old skills from way back when came back to me." The delinquent zombie girl pounded a fist into her hand. "I'm so going to get that Tamagotchi."

As the other girls in Franchouchou reassured Saki that she would be doing well, they heard someone in the concession area said in a clearly German accent, "Hey, the lot of you all smell familiar to me." Aside from the still-distracted Lily and idols, the girls of Franchouchou all turned to see a teen boy, accompanied by a teen girl, walk up to them. The girl was wearing the girl's uniform for Azu-Daioh High, but the boy was dressed casually in what he later explained was his casual outfit.

"…Yeah, you're those zombie girls that Ginei had me do some recon on," the German boy said as he tapped the side of his nose, "A dragon's nose does not forget, nor can it be fooled."

"Draco here is one of the monster students attending Azu-Daioh High," the girl that was accompanying the boy, apparently named Draco, explained, "He's a dragon." To prove that the girl that was with him was right, Draco changed into a form that was his human self plus wings growing out of his back, a pair of horns growing out of his head, a large red scaly tail, and his hands and feet became draconic. Draco then changed back to normal.

Gesturing to Draco, Saki said with some suspicion, "What do you mean 'recon'?"

"Ginei hid at a beach one time and took pictures of you because he was doing a bounty job for a magazine of some kind," Draco explained, "He got the pictures and sold them, but he caught a whiff from you girls telling him that you weren't human despite how you looked. He later asked me to look into the matter, and I confirmed his suspicions that you girls were all some manner of undead-type monsters, zombies specifically."

"So it was your friend who took pictures of us while we had our bonfire on the beach," Yugiri remarked, giving Draco a judgmental look.

"I…suppose that you'll be wanting to speak to Ginei about it later," Draco remarked, "But as for me, I am a bit occupied since some of me and Osaka's classmates are entered in the tournament at this arcade."

"I'm Osaka, by the way," the girl accompanying Draco said, sounding somewhat excited, "Me and Draco's whole homeroom class is here to cheer on our classmates who had been entered into the tournament!"

As some of the zombie girls introduced themselves to Draco and Osaka, the latter being the only human in the conversation, Sakura suddenly stopped short, a look of realization on her face. "Oh! I heard that there was some old witch that was using magic to make a lot of the female students over at your school super chubby recently, and that the problem had since been fixed."

Osaka looked a bit concerned by what Sakura had mentioned, but Draco calmly nodded in the affirmative. "Ja. Me and the other boys in Azu-Daioh High's newspaper club tracked down that witched and destroyed her, breaking the curse she had cast and returning all of the girls that had been affected to normal."

"Geez, I knew that there were other kinds of monsters out there when Shades had all of us learn the Monster Glamour skill," Saki began, "But I had no idea that there were witches out there, not to mention assholes who take pictures of us and sell them to that Sagazine hellhole."

Draco would have said something, but before he got a word out the manager of the arcade called out that the tournament was about to start. Taking their cue, Saki and Hikari got up so that they could go play against the competition and win it big time. The rest of Franchouchou wished the two of them luck, while Osaka somewhat excitedly took Draco by his right arm and proceeded to drag him over to where the rest of their homeroom class from school was at.

* * *

The tournament had been a rather successful event for everyone as a whole. The arcade itself was particularly lucky to have gotten such notoriety on the local news, as it was Hikari, one of the popular undead actresses that had taken Japan by storm, who ended up winning the whole tournament. Saki ended up placing fifth overall, but this was actually some deliberate effort on her part, as the prize for fifth was the Tamagotchi that she sought. Hikari's prize was a special necklace that resembled a blue-gem amulet from a popular anime, also Hikari got a royal load of tokens for the arcade games.

The news reporters wanted to do some interviews with Saki and Hikari, so with Kotaro setting things up and keeping a close eye on the interviewing, the two zombie girls talked about the time that they had in the arcade. The news coverage ended up drawing a lot of attention to the arcade, and Kotaro even got an idea for a plot for an episode of Saga Stories that was based off of the girls' experience at the arcade.

That evening at the mansion, as the girls of Franchouchou, all of them in their zombie forms, were all relaxing after their time at the tournament today, Sakura, after having written about her experiences that day in her journal, looked over to see Saki sitting cross-legged on the floor in the futon room, giggling out of sheer delight and amusement as she fiddled with her Tamagotchi. "Well hot damn!" Saki exclaimed, clearly happy with something, "I didn't get an Oyajitchi!"

"Having fun?" Saki looked up from her prize when she heard Sakura call over to her. The delinquent zombie girl gave an amused grin, did the 'v for victory' hand sign as she held her Tamagotchi with her other hand.

"Heh, yeah," Saki replied, "Sorry for geeking out like I have Egghead, but this really takes me way back to when I was still human."

Sakura smiled in an understanding manner. "Well all have our ways, Saki," Sakura replied. Getting up, Sakura made her way over to where Saki sat, going on ahead and sitting down right next to her. After sitting down with Saki, Sakura looked over in one of the directions in the room, prompting Saki to follow Sakura's light of sight to see what it was she was looking at. To Saki's interest, Sakura was looking over to where Hikari sat cross-legged on the floor up against a wall near one of the windows in the futon room.

The gamer zombie girl was looking at a touch pad, with a pair of headphones that she was wearing plugged in to listen to something. The anime-inspired necklace that she won at the tournament today was worn around her neck. "…She has gone through a lot more than what we could have originally guessed, Saki," Sakura remarked, smiling in a comforted manner, "I'm just glad that she was able to get over the life that she had lived and become a better person." Turning to look at Saki, the long-haired zombie girl went on, "I was still surprised to learn about what all Hikari had gone though due to all of the circumstances that surrounded how she was brought into the world in the first place."

"Yeah, I want to find that greedy creep that Shades mentioned and punch him really, really hard in the face," Saki remarked in a mildly vengeful tone, "Maybe strike him square in his holy land with a combo-breaker kick while I'm at it."

Although Saki, as well as Sigrid, both tended to be physically violent when it came to standing up for their fellow zombie girls in Franchouchou, Sakura was still touched that the two resident tough girls were, in their own way, showing that they had the best interest of their fellow zombie girls in mind. Sakura had also seen how the other girls in Franchouchou were getting along with each other, was glad to see that they were starting to become like a family that had a strong bond which could not be broken.

…And now that family had their still-living loved ones, who were there for them if they needed it. The long-haired zombie girl was happy that she and the rest of Franchouchou had as much as they did; each other, their respective loved ones who were now back in their (un)lives, and there is no forgetting their vast fanbase, a fanbase that is seemingly legion. Taking everything into account, Sakura began to wonder if now, after all of the times that she has had, she had finally truly made it as an actress.

END, SAGA STORIES CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Author's notes:

This is the chapter that I had set up for Hikari, the last of the three additional zombie girls that were added to the mix all the way back in chapter one. Sure, Hikari took longer than either Sigrid or Ayumu to have her time in the spotlight, and Ayumu sort of had a second chapter before now. But now that some light has been shed on Hikari (heh), I can now get to work on progressing the storyline of this fic along.

Speaking of, the next chapter will see something that is a long time coming, with some of my other works having an influence. The build up took a while, but now I can finally get to work on hammering out a chapter that I knew I wanted to do, a chapter that will play a major role in more than just 'Saga Stories'. As a side note, I included a few references to how, in the series proper, Saki liked to game a bit, going to arcades and whatnot; I feel like her interest in gaming is a secondary aspect of her character, with Saki being a delinquent as her primary character aspect. Thus, it could be said that Hikari's primary aspect is her being something of a video game otaku. But more on that later.

I hope that you all will like what I have in store for next time.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own Zombie Land Saga, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Saga Stories: A tale of Zombie Land Saga

Chapter sixteen: The power of dance is a difficult one to master

The zombie girls of the actress troop Franchouchou, with the noted exceptions of Sakura and Saki, were in the kitchen area of the Saga mansion, enjoying a late lunch together. The girls who were present, all of them in their zombie forms, after they saw some of Kotaro's men pass by the open doorway that led into the kitchen area, were conversing among themselves, although it was clear that Ai and Junko, the two zombie girls that had been idols in life, were commanding the conversation as they were talking about their respective past lives as idols.

As the talking went on, the former idols proceeded to talk about what they heard happened to people that they had respectively known back when they were still alive. "Hang on a minute there, Ai," Hikari said as she looked at the Heisei idol zombie girl, "One of the girls in the idol group you used to belong to had died during a live outdoor performance, that you all were doing during a thunderstorm, because she was struck by lightning while on stage?"

Nodding a few times in the affirmative, Ai remarked, "It sounds like a very brutal way to die. Granted, my own death via dying in a concert hall fire is horrific in and of itself, but what my old friend in the idol group suffered sounds just as bad, especially if you consider how it was a lot quicker than a fire, and death was probably instantaneous."

"I got it that one of the producers that I worked with back when I was a living idol died in a plane crash while he was flying out to meet with a new client that he could have represented," Junko remarked, "Me dying in a car crash was scary enough. I'd hate to see it as I was going down in a plane crash." The Showa idol zombie girl then gave an involuntary shudder as she thought about what her old producer must have gone through.

"All of this talking of people dying in various ways wouldn't even be possible back in the time that I was alive in, you know," Yugiri remarked, "Talk of flying machines and whatnot. But then again, I was killed over a century and a half ago, during the Ancient Saga Coup D'état."

Ai, with a curious look on her face, was about to say something to the courtesan zombie girl, but she was cut off when the girls all heard Sakura call out, making all of them turn to see Sakura, followed by Saki and Kotaro, walk into the kitchen area. The two returning zombie girls were in their human forms when they entered with the manager of Franchouchou. There was a look of mild annoyance on Saki's face as she was clearly chewing Kotaro out for something.

Giving an annoyed scoff, the delinquent zombie girl said to Kotaro, "Seriously, Shades! This is something that I'm pretty sure I speak for all of the girls when I say that we should have been in the know about from the get-go!"

The other zombie girls, aside from the unawakened Tae who was mindlessly chewing on some dried squid snack, all turned to look at the returning trio. "…I assume that the elfish man has just revealed to you that he had pertinent secrets that he kept from us?" Sigrid asked, arching a wry eyebrow at Saki and getting her and Sakura to turn to face her. The returning girls, seeing the rest of their fellows in their zombie forms, released their monster glamour to show their true selves as well before joining them.

Saki gave an incredulous scoff as she plopped down next to the half-foreign zombie girl. "Egghead and I just learned first-hand that Shades has raised more than just the ten of us here as zombies," Saki began to explain, "He brought us along as he visited some lady whose daughter Tomo he raised as a zombie because she died." Arching an eyebrow, Saki added, "Strangely, that Tomo girl died from the same cause as Hikari."

"Mrs. Takino has been invaluable to the Saga Stories project, so bringing her daughter back was the least I could do," Kotaro defended. With the other zombie girls all looking at him, the manager saw that he had a bit of explanation to do. Letting out a mildly bothered sigh, Kotaro remarked, "Yes, it's true. You ten are not the only ones who I had brought back into the land of the living as members of the living dead. There are other awakened zombies out there that I have had a hand in raising from the grave."

Sakura, from where she sat next to Lily (who was sandwiched between Sakura and Ayumu), had a bit of a worried look on her face. "…Umm, Kotaro-san, exactly how many more zombies aside from me and the other girls here are out there did you have a hand in raising from the dead?"

"Counting Mrs. Takino's daughter Tomo and the ten of you girls, my group and I are responsible for a grant total of sixteen zombies thus far," Kotaro explained, figuring that it was best that he just give the girls the info that they were clearly hungry for. Holding up all the digits on his right hand, Kotaro went on, "That means there are five more for you all to potentially meet."

The girls of Franchouchou all had surprised looks on their faces, aside from the very obvious exception of Tae. "Will we meet all of the other girls you raised from the dead at some point?" Lily asked, a look of curiosity on her face.

"Actually, among the five that any of you have yet to meet," the eccentric man began, "There are actually three who are male. Not _all_ of the humans I raised from the grave are girls like you all."

"Wait a minute," Junko began, a hint of curiosity on her face, "Humans?"

With one of the driest looks on his face possible, Kotaro pointed down to the floor, making the girls all look and see Romero, the zombie Japanese Chin, sitting on the floor right next to Kotaro on his right. "…Romero here is the only non-human who I brought back," Kotaro explained, "But then again reanimating animals is a different scheme than reanimating humans, so all that was involved with Romero shouldn't be cause for alarm for you ladies."

As the girls all relaxed a bit from what bits of alarm they felt over non-humans being brought back as living dead, Kotaro crossed his arms over his chest. "Anyway, now that I have all of you girls here, there is some business that I have to go over with all of you, concerning the next big thing we have to do to spread the Franchouchou brand." Pointing dramatically at all ten of the zombie girls, their manager declared, "We're going to be doing a commercial to advertise the big upcoming anime convention that will be held at the center in Tokyo!"

"An anime convention commercial?" Hikari said, her interest piqued right away. Some of the other girls all looked interested/excited as well, although it was clear that Hikari, the gamer zombie girl who was also a bit of an otaku (still is), was by far the most excited to do anything related to an anime convention.

"Oh yes," Kotaro replied in the affirmative, a hint of smug self-amusement on his face as he nodded a few times, his arms crossed over his chest, "But this won't be any old commercial. For you see, this one will require all of you girls to do a song and dance number while dressed in identical outfits!" Kotaro, in a moment of his trademark eccentricity, whipped out a red short-sleeved dress that looked like something Ai or Junko might have worn in their respective careers as idols back when they were alive.

Speaking of the undead idol girls, both of them perked up a bit when they saw the dress that their manager had whipped out, memories of their past lives as idols flooding back. "Well about time that Ai and I will be able to put some of our experience as idols to use that would specifically need said experience in that field," Junko said, "Doing a song and dance number while wearing a cute outfit is right up the ally of idols such as myself and Ai." The Heisei idol zombie girls gave a nod of agreement as she followed along with her Showa counterpart.

"Indeed, the respective experience that you two have as idols will serve us well in the process of shooting the commercial for the anime convention," Kotaro replied, "But given that the other eight girls have only their experience from the Drive-In Tori commercial, they will need a great deal of help to get them caught up to an acceptable level." Lowering the dress that he was holding, the eccentric man said, "Luckily for me, I called in an old friend of mine to help out. He will be here by tomorrow, at which point you girls will learn under him to get the song and dance routine down pat for the commercial."

"An old friend of yours, Mr. Kotaro?" Ayumu asked, a bit of a curious look on her face.

Kotaro nodded once in the affirmative. "Indeed. He is already brilliant at the singing skills that he will impart to you all, and as for his awesome dancing, he learned all that under grandmasters of dance that he studied under while he was touring the Land of Fire." The zombie girls all felt that this whole song and dance t raining that they would all get for the commercial that they had to shoot for an upcoming anime convention will be an interesting experience, even more so since they were going to be trained by an old friend of Kotaro's.

Junko and Ai both felt that they would have the training in the bag.

* * *

Later that night, actually very early in the morning like around two-fifteen or so, all of the zombie girls were fast asleep in the futon room. Ai and Junko both had happy looks on their respective faces as they slept, no doubt having pleasant dreams about being able to use their specific talents from life to shine. Lily had actually rolled over close to Ayumu as all the girls were asleep. Sigrid slept with Ulfberht, her cherished metal baseball bat, in case she was woken up in the middle of the night because there was something she had to attack.

All in all, the ten zombie girls were fast asleep, not a hint of worry, fear or alarm to be seen among any of them. So then, it goes without saying that when the door leading into the futon room was suddenly thrown open in as loud and boisterous of a manner as possible as someone made their presence known while standing in the now-open doorway, all of the zombie girls had been very clearly stirred from their slumber by their flamboyant and honestly rather rude visitor in the middle of the night/very early morning.

The visitor was a man, with fair skinned that was very lightly tanned. He had chin-length shiny black hair in something of a bowl cut, and he wore a white suit with matching pants and slick, shiny black shoes. For some odd reason, both his white pants and his white suit top were covered in what looked to be zippers. The man, as he stood in the open doorway that led into the futon room, struck a pose that had him hold his right hand over his right eye in such a manner that the index and middle fingers were on either side of the eye, while the left hand supported the right elbow. Also, the man seemed to be emanating actions lines.

"Behold, ladies!" the mysterious man proclaimed loudly as he made his dynamic entrance, "I have come to you all in your time of need! No longer do any of you have any reason to fear, for I shall see you all whipped into shape with ample time to-"

"AAAAHHHHHHH!" Ayumu screamed in fear at the top of her lungs as she scrunched up into something of a fetal position while covering her hears with her hands. As the teen actress zombie girl's screaming cut the mystery man off, Lily and Sakura, both similarly as frightened by the surprise visitor's sudden appearance, started throwing random objects, basically whatever they were able to get their undead hands on, right at the mystery man, scoring a good number of hits on the late night/very early morning visitor.

After the mystery man took a good few hits from the thrown objects, he saw Sigrid rush at him, Ulfberht in hand. Swinging her favored weapon, the half-foreign zombie girl struck the mystery man on his right side, just under the bottom of the right side of his rib cage. The powerful blow from Sigrid knocked the mystery man over, just in time for Saki to march over and proceed to kick the man in his ribs a good few times as he laid helpless on the floor. Saki was also joined by Sakura and the zombie idol girls in kicking the floored mystery man.

The zombie girls continued their rattled assault up until Kotaro, summoned by the noise, came rushing over and made all of the zombie girls back off. Helping the mystery man off of the floor, the eccentric man scolded at the girls, "What in the name of Gilgamesh were you girls all doing? This is your song and dance instructor that I told you all about! He's here to help you all train to get ready to shoot the commercial for the anime convention!"

The zombie girls, with Yugiri trying to get Tae who was growling like a dog at the mystery man to calm down, all looked at their manager and the mystery man, who was the old friend of Kotaro's that they had been informed about. "Well in our defense, Shades," Saki began, "This jerk burst into our room in the middle of the night, loudly proclaiming stuff and waking all of us up in the process. He scared the absolute shit out of all of us, for crying out loud!"

"She…she is right, Kotaro," the mystery man said, slowly recovering from the surprise beat-down he had just been on the receiving end of, "In my efforts to make a dynamic entrance into the lives of girls that I would be helping on the dank and awesome path of dance, I unknowingly scared them into attacking me. The fault here is mine, I will admit."

With a mildly resigned look on his face, Kotaro looked around on the floor, where all of the various objects that had been thrown at his friend now laid. Pointing to the mess, Kotaro said, "Well can you girls all at least pick up this mess before going back to sleep? We can get down to business at a much better hour, after you all had have sufficient rest." Some of the zombie girls, Sakura, the idols and the child and teen actresses, all sheepishly cleaned up the mess that had been made. As for Saki, Sigrid and the others, they all went right back to their futons, with the resident tough girls both eyeing Kotaro's mysterious friend suspiciously.

* * *

The following morning, as all of the girls sat in metal folding chairs down in the basement of the Saga mansion, Kotaro stood before the ten of them, with his mysterious friend standing next to him on his left. "Ladies, please allow me to formally introduce you all to my friend who will get all of you up to snuff for the song and dance that you all will have to do for the commercial that you all will be shooting," Kotaro began. Gesturing to his friend with both hands, the eccentric man said while still facing the girls, "This man right here is Brycen Joborno, an Italian man who has traveled all over the world to learn the secrets of the dank and awesome powers of dance!"

Nodding once in confirmation, the mystery man, now revealed to be called Brycen, stepped forward by a step to be closer to the ten zombie girls, most of which were still a bit wary of him due to how he had made the late night/very early morning dynamic appearance. "I hope that you ladies are ready to learn the sacred secrets that are shared only amongst grandmasters of dance and their chosen acolytes," Brycen began, "Because by the time that I am through with all of you, there will never be a performance that any of you won't be ready for!"

The ten zombie girls had no idea just what to make of Brycen. Even so, if Kotaro had every confidence that his Italian friend would get them all ready for the song and dance number that they all had to do for the anime contention commercial, then they figured that they might as well work under him while he was there to teach them. Sakura, with a bit of curiosity, raised her left hand, and waited until she was called on by Kotaro. "Umm, I actually have a question for Brycen," the long-haired zombie girl began. Turning to look at the white-clad man, Sakura said, "Kotaro-san said you had traveled all over the world. Is that true?"

"Indeed it is," Brycen replied, a bit of smug self-amusement on his face, "There is only so much that Japan on its own had to offer me in my pursuit of gaining experience in the dank and awesome ways of dance. Therefore, I sought out the secrets all over the world, traveling in style until my journey led me close to the home you girls have all come to know. I found the secrets I had sought in one of the elemental nations, located close to Japan. The Land of Fire, if you all want to be specific."

The girls all looked at Brycen as he crossed his arms over his chest, closed his eyes as he nodded solemnly. "I found a trio of grandmasters in a Land of Fire village called Konoha. Harold Fisher, Inoichi Yamanaka. Tsume Inuzuka. Those three epic legends had started up a workout facility where they use the power of dance in the truly noble endeavor of helping those with excess weight to slim down. An acolyte of theirs, a woman by the name of Tenten Hyuga, is their first story of success and runs the facility when they themselves are busy. It was under them, that trio of grandmasters, that I had learned the secrets of dance!"

Brycen then pointed dramatically at the ten zombie girls. "Under my guidance, you ten shall be taught the dance routine that shall be required of you all for the commercial that Kotaro has lined up for you all to take part in! It has been made aware to me by Kotaro that two of you, the ones by the names of Ai and Junko, already have notable dance experience from when they walked as members of the living. That experience will be a great deal of help, and the other eight of you must not be afraid to ask those two for help if need be!"

"Hang on a minute," Sakura began, a look of mild surprise mixed with some suspicion on her face, "You know that Ai and Junko are zombies? Do you know that all of us are zombies?"

Brycen turned to face Kotaro, who gave him a single nod that signaled some manner of approval to act. Nodding in understanding to his friend, Brycen then struck a pose that had him shoot his arms up into the air in a sort of swan pose, his head turned to his left. As he was in that pose, that seemingly had actions lines come from it, an energy that the zombie girls all recognized as what is seen when one releases monster glamour, emanated from the white-clad man.

Over the course of a couple of seconds, Brycen's skin changed to a grayish-blue color, and he looked to have a few small holes on his person; two in his chest and one in his forehead, if the cloth wrapping around his head were any indication. After he was done releasing the monster glamour, Brycen came out of the pose he struck and looked at the ten zombie girls, opening his eyes to show that his eyes were now a notable and familiar color of red.

"You ladies did not think that you all were the only ones that Kotaro and his fellows saw fit to raise from the grave, did you?" Brycen asked, arching a wry eyebrow as he saw all ten of the girls become surprised as they saw him.

"No fucking way," Saki remarked, her tone making it clear that she was very much surprised. Turning to look at Kotaro, Saki said as she pointed at Brycen, "He's one of the zombies that you brought back too?"

Nodding a few times in confirmation, Kotaro said, "Well I _did_ say that some of the sixteen zombies that the lads and I are responsible for raising from the grave are male. My good friend Brycen here is one of those very few lucky men."

Brycen, crossing his arms over his chest, nodded a few times. "And who better to train a bunch of zombies in the dank and awesome ways of dance than another zombie? You girls are about to be given a crash course in secrets so sacred that you will all feel that you are being granted the very knowledge of gods! You all will be feeling very much humbled by the time that I am done with the lot of you, rest assured of that!"

"Oh my, this is all sounding more and more exciting," Yugiri remarked, "I'm actually wanting to get cracking on the dance training that you will be putting the girls and I through, Mr. Joborno."

"Before you girls can get started working under Brycen's tutelage," Kotaro remarked as he crossed his arms over his chest, "You all need to get into your outfits that you shall be wearing for the commercial. There may be some need to do size adjustments for some of you girls, so the process may take us a while."

Ai and Junko, being experienced in singing and dancing thanks to their past lives as idols, nodded along in agreement. "That sounds fair, Kotaro-san," Junko remarked, "Although I am a bit curious. Who was used as a size reference when you had that dress that you had previously shown us yesterday?"

"I was the model that was used for making that dress," Kotaro explained, "Counting the one that you saw me show you all yesterday, there are ten dresses of equal size, all of which are sized to fit me." Looking at the ten zombie girls, the eccentric man said, "Now you all see why I said that it may be necessary to adjust the sizes of a lot of the dresses."

The ten girls all looked at Kotaro with varying looks of confusion. "You…" Saki began, a look of confused shock and mild surprise on her undead face, "…You used yourself as a model for all of the dresses, Shades?"

"There is nothing that I won't be willing to do when it comes to making the Saga Stories project a success!" Kotaro declared, "Even if it means that I have to model some dresses for you ladies to make sure the designs are right!" After the girls were given the rundown that would be needed for the dancing that they had to do, they were herded into one of the dance studios upstairs where they would be fitted for their dresses for the dancing they had to do for the commercial.

* * *

Eventually, all ten of the zombie girls were in their respective dresses. Some of the girls, such as Sakura, the idol girls, Lily and Ayumu, all liked their dresses, thinking that said dressed looked really cute. Saki and Sigrid looked mildly annoyed to be gussies up like dolls, and Yugiri, Tae and Hikari were all indifferent to how they looked, but were okay with putting up with it. After the girls were all ready with their respective dresses, Kotaro and Brycen got a good look at the ten of them all together.

"Hmm, yes," Brycen remarked, "Yes indeed. You ladies all look ready to learn the mystical skills of dance that shall be imparted to you. Once your dance t raining is complete, you all will cover the singing portion of what you need, at which point I believe Ai and Junko can take over as they both are more experience in singing than I am."

The zombie girls, aside from the unawakened Tae, all looked a bit apprehensive as the zombie man before them talked about the training that he was going to take them all through. Even Ai and Junko, experienced in dance due to both being idols in life, were a bit apprehensive as to the kind of training that Brycen had in mind for them and the other girls. Once the girls had all been put into position in the dance studio that they were all in, Brycen got right to work.

…

After they worked nonstop for an hour or so straight, the ten zombie girls were all allowed a break, which immediately saw some of them fall over onto the floor on their respective rear ends. Not even the experienced Ai and Junko were able to get out of the hour or so of training scot free, as they were among the girls that collapsed onto their butts on the dance studio floor. None of the zombie girls were quite prepared for what the white clad man had in store for them.

"Clearly you girls are in need of greater inspiration to motivate you all into taking to my teachings with gusto," Brycen remarked, "Because even Kotaro on one of his low-energy days would be more than able to dance circles around the lot of you as you currently are! Hell, I bet that he would be more than glad to demonstrate his dancing should I ask him for the assistance!" Over where he stood in the corner of the room looking out into the room and at the girls, their manager, his arms crossed over his chest, nodded in agreement with the white-clad zombie man.

"Hey, not all of us are natural dancers, you know!" Saki snapped, "Hell, most of us don't have any experience outside of the Drive-In Tori commercial that we shot a while ago!" Looking down at herself, the delinquent zombie girl went on, "And we're all expected to wear these skimpy little outfits? You cannot be serious!"

Looking over to Ai and Junko, the two of them looked troubled as well, not to mention a bit worn out from Brycen's dance training. "I'm…going to have to agree with Saki here," Junko remarked as she somewhat shakily raised a hand, "Not on the part involving the outfits because I personally love the outfits we're going to wear for the commercial, but the part involving the dance routine that you're running us all through. Isn't it a little bit on the extreme side?"

Brycen, doing the 'tsk-tsk-tsk' motion with his right index finger, replied, "Clearly you girls have not experienced the true nature, the true power, of dance. Otherwise you'd all realize that the training you all are doing is par for the course." Brycen, straightening up a bit, looked down at where most of the zombie girls were sitting on the floor (only Saki and Sigrid were standing up). The white-clad man had a contemplative look on his face as he considered all of the girls as he sized them all up.

It wasn't until a few seconds after that where Brycen spoke back up again. "…Did you girls ever hear from Kotaro the story of how the power of dance aided him and myself in our efforts to mow down the remains of the last major crime family in Italy?"

Sensing where this was heading, Kotaro got up from where he was leaning against in the corner and walked over to stand next to Brycen. "…He's got a point, ladies," Kotaro began, his tone carrying a lot more of a serious hint than it normally did, "I myself have seen sights all around the world, often right alongside Brycen here. He and I were, and to this day still sort of are, quite the daring pair…"

(FLASHBACK)

(DATE: UNKNOWN)

Over in Italy, Kotaro and (a still living) Brycen were running through one of the hallways of an elaborately and exquisitely furnished mafia don's mansion, pursued by a group of four mafia grunts. Under Kotaro's arm was a vase roughly the size of the average American football, but the vase was made of solid jade. "Get back here with the don's prized family heirloom!" the lead grunt in the pack shouted as he dashed forward and tried to swing at the fleeing men.

Brycen, sensing the danger, quickly turned around and, in a very fluid dance-like movement, kicked the grunt's weapon out of his hand, then spun and kicked the grunt in the face, sending his knocked-out form reeling back into his fellows. Kotaro then pulled out a grenade, pulled the pin, ran back over to where all of the grunts were sprawled out in a single big pile, shoved the grenade into the shirt of the one on top of the pile, then quickly ran back to join Brycen before the took cover in a room, quickly closing the ornate double-doors behind them, locking it as well for good measure.

The two men, with Kotaro carefully checking to make sure the jade vase he and Brycen had was unharmed, jumped up when they heard the grenade go off, along with the pained shouts and cries of the four mafia grunts who were chasing them. "I…think that we should wait until they had a chance to shampoo the carpets before we try to sneak out," the eccentric man said to his white-clad friend as they relaxed a little.

Gently shaking his head, Brycen said, "There's no need for that." Pointing to a window that was in the room, Brycen gestured for Kotaro to follow him. Opening the window and looking down, the two men saw that there was a white screen wall that flowers were growing along. "We can climb down here and make our escape with the mafia don's jade vase," Brycen explained, "We'll be home free in next to-"

*CRASH*

Kotaro and Brycen both turned around to see the double doors leading into the room that they were in get busted open, and in walked a blonde man wearing a yellow jacket that was open in the front, under the jacket was a similarly colored shirt (although the current lighting made it difficult for Kotaro and Brycen to tell), a pair of pants that went with the jacket, and brown shoes. The blonde man, his hands on his hips, walked into the room to confront the two guys.

"You thought that the don would send more of his grunts after you," the blonde man declared. Jerking a thumb at himself, the blonde man went on to say, "But it was I, Derek!"

The two men both eyed the now-identified Derek with careful, mildly annoyed looks on their respective faces. "Derek Brandish," Kotaro remarked, "The head of the don's security. I know that you are strong, but how were you able to bust the doors clear out of the doorway?"

"Kotaro, look!" Brycen exclaimed, pointing something out to the eccentric man. Looking over to where his friend was pointing, Kotaro saw some of the door hinged that were screwed to the doors that had been blown out of the doorway. The hinges looked old and rusty; they also had action lines emanating from them, and colored Japanese kanji also floated near them.

"It cannot be!" Kotaro exclaimed out of shock, "The hinges on the doors were old and rusty! It made them weak enough so that Derek was allowed to bust the doors clear out of the door frame, thus letting him walk into the room!"

Derek stepped into the room a few feet to confront the men that were in possession of the don's prized jade vase. Pointing dramatically at Kotaro and Brycen, Derek said, "You have caused quite a bit of trouble for the don, you thieves! You killed ten of his men! As well as twice that number in the don's guard dogs!" A scene set outside of the mansion showed a bunch of mafia grunt men, as well as numerous guard dogs, all lying dead on the ground, with action lines coming from the deceased, and colored kanji floating around the scene.

Kotaro and Brycen both looked confused at Derek. "We…only killed four men that were chasing us just now," Kotaro explained, "We have no idea about the other six dead men, or any of the dead guard dogs."

This time, it was the don's right-hand man's turn to look confused. "…What the hell are you thieves talking about?" Derek asked, "If you aren't the ones who killed the other six men or any of the guard dogs, then who could it-" Derek was cut off when a large explosion rocked the mansion, making it clear another party was in the middle of besieging the don's mansion. "Of all the times I have to deal with thieves," Derek snarled, "Another group is here to try and take the don and his family down!"

Seeing that Derek was distracted, Kotaro moved to open the window and climb out of it in order to get to safety with the jade vase. Seeing this out of the corner of his eye, Derek pulled a gun out and tried to take aim at Kotaro, but Brycen moved to shield Kotaro's escape, even though he took two bullets to the chest and one to his forehead for the trouble. Kotaro, as much as he had wanted to cry out for his friend who was slain, knew that he needed to take the time to get away with the jade vase, a mission that he could not afford to fail.

Kotaro quickly scrambled down the white wood wall, choosing to fall the remaining five feet or so and landing on top of a bush. Derek would have moved to gun down Kotaro, but he was cut off when a loud draconic roar came from behind him; Kotaro was actually saved when a large blast of fire burst out of the window he had just crawled out of as he scrambled down the white wood wall to safety. A safety, sadly enough, we wasn't able to share with his good friend.

…

"Thanks again for the save, Boromir," Kotaro said as he addressed a fair-skinned man that he stood in front of outside of the don's mansion; Boromir had long white hair, with the bangs braided and linked at the back of the man's head, deep sapphire blue eyes, and he wore a dark leather jerkin over a long-sleeved dark brown tunic, light-armored leggings, boots, and there were even shoulder guards covering the man's shoulders. All of what Boromir wore had colored trimming, with the trimming being the same shade of blue as his eyes.

…Kind of like a certain enhanced man trained to hunt and kill monsters, if you think about it.

"The vase you handed over to me is a treasure that belongs to the people whose lands that my people are about to look into annexing," Boromir replied, "Thanks again for assisting my sons and I in the search for the Jade Vase of Mayakashi." As Kotaro and Boromir spoke, a teenaged boy came walking over, carrying the dead body of Brycen. The teenaged boy wore a grim look of sympathetic regret on his face.

The teenaged boy was fair-skinned, had hair that was jet black and long enough to reach halfway down his shoulder blades, he wore a long-sleeved shirt under a baggy t-shirt that resembled the German flag, a pair of black tripp pants with red threading, and a pair of black boots (either work or military grade) that had red laces. The teenaged boy's eyes were a piercing shade of red, much unlike the blue eyes of Boromir.

"I found the vanquished human that was helping us, father," the teenaged boy remarked, his tone mildly somber as he gently laid Brycen's body on the ground.

Boromir nodded a few times in acknowledgement to the teenaged boy, who was apparently his son. "Thank you, Draco," the blue-eyed man remarked. Boromir then turned to face Kotaro, saw a look of contemplation in his eyes. "…I recall what you and your late friend here told me what you plan to do to save some prefecture in Japan, Kotaro," Boromir began, "How you plan to bring a selection of humans back as standard zombies. I know not what makes you think that a number of low-tier undead-types like standard zombies will be of use to you, but I hope that you know what you are getting yourself into." Casting one last look at Brycen's dead body, Boromir turned his gaze back to Kotaro.

"…Those raised from the dead are never quite exactly the same as they were when they were still living humans."

Kotaro understood, even appreciated, Boromir's words on some level. Even so, he had to do what he knew the blue-eyed man figured out what he was considering on doing. It simply just wasn't fair to leave so awesome a person as Brycen dead, not when he still had so much that he was looking forward to do. The eccentric man wanted to give his friend his future back, even if he would have that future as something that he wasn't quite expecting himself to be.

…

Back in the Saga mansion after Kotaro was able to spirit Brycen's body back, Kotaro was standing in the basement room, where an unawakened Brycen, returned to the land of the living as a zombie, was trying to walk into a wall. Kotaro, with a resigned look, turned to a table that was in the basement room. On the table was only one thing, a radio that had the cassette tape port open with a cassette tape placed in there.

Kotaro needed to get Brycen awakened as soon as possible, and he figured that there was only one real surefire way to awaken the white-clad (now a) zombie man into the person that he was before he was shot and killed by Derek Brandish, who Kotaro had learned had been killed by Boromir's son Draco. Letting out a resigned sigh, Kotaro walked over to the radio, closed the cassette tape port, then pressed the play button, starting up a certain music number that Brycen had always loved.

"AYAYAYAYYYY!"

As a truly epic score began to play, Kotaro was looking at the radio, a somber look on his face. As he looked down at the radio, hoping against hope, he heard Brycen's voice call out to him, "Oh, I see that you saw to it that I returned to life as much as you were able to manage, my good friend. Thanks for seeing to my return." Gasping in shock, Kotaro turned around and saw that Brycen was now a fully-awakened zombie; he was also doing a pose as action lines emanated from him, and some colored kanji floated overhead.

Relief instantly flooded right into Kotaro as he ran over and threw his arms around his now-returned friend, hugging him tightly. Brycen, with a knowing look of appreciation on his face, returned the hug, making it one of the bro-est of bro-hugs in the history of bro-hugs.

(FLASHBACK OVER)

"A few months after I had awakened, Kotaro started his plan to save the Saga prefecture," Brycen said as he and Kotaro finished the story of their past that they were telling to the zombie girls, "And the rest, well…" The white-clad zombie man gave a few self-amused chuckles as he thought about what happened after that point. "…The rest is history."

The ten zombie girls all looked at Brycen and Kotaro with looks of amazed wonder, very much entertained by their story. …Well, most of the zombie girls were entertained by the story. Tae, due to still being unawakened, just mindlessly sat there, and Saki and Sigrid both looked at their manager and the white-clad zombie man with curious, mildly suspicious look. "…So let me get this straight," Saki said, "You were killed due to being shot because you and Shades were in the middle of helping someone raid the mansion home of an Italian mafia don?"

Waving a hand at the delinquent zombie girl, Kotaro said, "The who, what, where, why and how here is not important. What is important is that Brycen was too much of a treasure to allow to remain a victim of the cruelty of Derek Brandish. Brycen is a skilled dancer eclipsed only by the very grandmasters who taught him the craft! To allow Brycen to remain dead would be like if one had a load billions upon billions of yen but never did anything with it!" Kotaro pointed at the zombie girls dramatically. "Now do you see?! See the value of the power of dance?"

"Hell no," Saki replied right away.

"Too bad! Because break time is over!" Kotaro declared. Clapping very quickly, the eccentric man declared, "Let's go, ladies! Brycen is far from through with all of you! Get off your lazy undead asses and bust a move!"

"Being undead hasn't stopped me," Brycen boasted, "And I refuse to allow any of you to allow it to stop you! Let's go through the whole routine! From the top!" The zombie girls all moaned out of complaint as they rose off of the floor and got back to their feet. Tae moaned in her usual tone that came with her being unawakened, but even then one could hear a hint of exasperation in her tone as she got up with the rest of the zombie girls.

* * *

A few days later, the zombie girls had gotten the dance routine for the commercial down pat, and were able to move on to the singing that they had to do for the commercial as well. Brycen stuck around to keep an eye on things with Kotaro, but since singing was more up the ally of Ai and Junko, they had more of an active hand in helping catch the other eight zombie girls up; Ai got to play an especially big part in this, as she was part of an idol group thus had more experience in doing group performances, compared to Junko who was a solo idol.

Eventually, the girls were able to go through the dance routine while singing the song that they had to perform. After a couple takes, most of which had to be called for because Tae kept messing up here and there, not to mention one incident where Sakura and Lily scolded Saki and Sigrid for sending Ayumu into a bit of a panic (it wasn't intentional but the tough girls both still apologized), Kotaro got a take that he felt would be satisfactory for the commercial.

The commercial then hit the airwaves of Japanese television, and it not only got hype up for the convention itself, but it also garnered more renown for the girls of Franchouchou. This was even more helpful for the girls, as Kotaro had actually scheduled them to have a booth at the very convention that the commercial was advertising. Given that it was an anime convention, they had to rely on the expertise of Hikari, the otaku that she was, as anime conventions were uncharted lands for the rest of the group.

The girls got to check a few things out before they were called back to their booth by Kotaro and Brycen, the latter in his human form. The girls, all of them in their zombie forms, didn't garner a lot of focus as everyone thought that they were in costume, but soon many people who saw them passing by realized that they not only passed by real zombies, but that said zombies were famous actresses on TV, when they all saw the Franchouchou booth up and open for business.

In addition to a number of anime fans, the girls also saw fans of Saga Stories specifically. Some of the girls were surprised when still-living relatives of theirs from when they were living humans came by to visit the booth. Sakura and Saki were surprised to see Sakura's kid brother Sasuke and Maria, the daughter of Saki's friend Reiko, come by and see them. Lily practically burst into tears of joy when her father Masao showed up to see her as well. Ayumu's mother Minamo also visited, as she was worried the atmosphere of an anime convention may be a bit too overwhelming for her autistic daughter.

As they watched the zombie girls greet friends, family and fans, Kotaro and Brycen both wore amused, approving smiles on their respective faces. "…I would certainly say that your efforts to save Saga are going swimmingly, Kotaro," Brycen remarked. Turning to face his old friend, the white-clad zombie man remarked, "Will you be needing my assistance any further?"

"Not for the time being, no," Kotaro replied, "But I do hope that I can call upon you should the need to whip the girls into shape for another dance routine that they need to do ever arise."

Brycen let out a self-amused hum that clearly sounded like a chuckle. "Oh Kotaro, you should know me better than that. I am always available should you need my help. All you have to do is shoot me a text or call me, and I'll be packing my bags to fly back out to Saga." The eccentric man, arching a wry, self-amused eyebrow as he looked at his friend, held out a hand to him. The acolyte of dance, himself also smirking, accepted the handshake from Kotaro.

Bromance at its absolute finest, indeed.

END, SAGA STORIES CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Author's notes;

Ties to other works aside, this chapter helps to establish something that I've been wanting to do for this story for quite some time; in the series proper, the only known zombies are the seven girls in Franchouchou and Romero the dog. Here, even though the count of zombie girls in the aforementioned group was bumped up to ten, many would still fall under the assumption that they and Romero are the only zombies.

That would be a wrong assumption to make. Here, I'm exploring the idea that Kotaro, along with anyone in cahoots with him, had raised more than just the Franchouchou girls (and Romero) as zombies. Two such zombies were mentioned in this chapter, with one of those two even being the main center of focus for the chapter. The other zombies will pop up as time goes on, but until we get there, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter.

Also, I hope that I had captured the Jojo's spirit just right. Please don't hate me too much if I screwed anything up in that regard too badly.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own Zombie Land Saga, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Saga Stories: A tale of Zombie Land Saga

Chapter seventeen: The fiercest foes rout when they hear Asgardian's shout

It was a lovely enough morning one day over at the Saga mansion, where the ten zombie girls of the actress troop Franchouchou were sitting at a large table in the kitchen area, eating breakfast. The girls very recently had finished production for a commercial that they were asked to do to help draw attention to an anime convention that was going to be held soon, a convention that at least a few of the zombie girls themselves were personally interested in attending. In fact, it was the main thing that was on the mind of Hikari, who was into anime and manga just as much as she was into video games.

The very epitome of 'otaku', indeed.

"The convention sounds like it might be a bit overwhelming," Ayumu remarked, her tone and expression showing that she was mildly worried about potentially going to a place such as the anime convention.

Sakura gently nodded in understanding as she got the teen actress zombie girl's attention. "Don't worry, Ayumu. Not everything is everyone's cup of tea."

Ayumu, appreciative of the long haired zombie girl's sympathy towards her and how she took how her (Ayumu's) autism made her what she's like into account, smiled and nodded once in thanks to Sakura. Sakura was going to go on to mention something else, but she found herself cut off when Kotaro, the manager of Franchouchou, came into the kitchen area, a clear look of smug self-amusement on his face. The savvier of the undead girls, mainly Saki and (to a lesser extent) Sigrid, became suspicious and wary when they saw the airs that Kotaro was giving off.

Seeing how Kotaro was making his way into the kitchen area, Saki said, "Alright, Shades. Why the hell do you look like you just got back from the best night ever at a love hotel?"

"A love hotel?" Ayumu repeated in a questioning tone, clearly showing she had absolutely no idea what the delinquent zombie girl was talking about. Just like her teen actress counterpart, Lily also clearly had no idea what Saki meant by 'love hotel'. The child actress zombie girl turned her attention to Sakura, same as what Ayumu was doing.

The two experienced undead actresses, after they both turned to face Sakura, proceeded to ask her what a love hotel was. Sakura, clearly embarrassed by the nature of the question Ayumu and Lily posed to her, was grateful when Kotaro began going on about why he looked to be putting on amused airs, saving the long haired zombie girl from having to explain things that she wasn't really all that comfortable in trying to explain to anyone.

Gesturing to the zombie girls of Franchouchou, Kotaro declared, "I hope that you ladies are ready for a trip, because we've just been invited to attend an exhibition performance over at one of Japan's hero academies!"

"Hero academies?" Ai repeated, "Hey, those are the various high schools all over Japan that teach and train quirked teenagers to use their quirks better in order to become future pro heroes."

The eccentric man nodded once in the affirmative. "Indeed, Ai." To all of the zombie girls, Kotaro went on, "To be specific, we're going to be heading on over to Vulcan High School, who you may have heard recently had a tournament against Japan's top hero academy, U.A. High School. Though Vulcan ultimately lost that tournament, they are still one of the more renowned hero academies in the nation."

Sakura raised a hand, and waited until Kotaro called upon her to speak. "What's the nature of this exhibition event that we're going to be watching over at Vulcan High, Kotaro-san?"

"According to what I was informed on the matter by Kagura Hojo, the principal of Vulcan, the exhibition match will be a team battle event where a team representing her school will face off against the team of a regular public high school that's visiting from the United States," Kotaro began to explain, "From what I've been informed on the matter, the high school visiting from the United States, which really is a regular public high school and not a hero academy unlike Vulcan, is set to have an actual team battle event against U.A., but that one is still a couple of days off. As such, the American high school has time to burn."

The ten zombie girls, aside from Tae due to her still being unawakened, all had curious looks on their faces as their manager gave them the facts as he knew them. "…Well I'd figure that all high schools, and not just ones that are hero academies, would have quirked students," Junko remarked, the curiosity on her face a bit more firm, "But what is a regular public high school from the United States thinking in challenging the top hero academy of Japan to a team battle event? Much less challenging any Japanese hero academy to any team battle events at all?"

Giving a helpless shrug, Kotaro replied, "It's not my place to question the Americans. I swear, those guys are the height of crazy sometimes." A lot of the zombie girls all had dry, unamused looks on their faces after Kotaro accused the Americans of being 'the height of crazy' as he had just said. They felt that it was a rather hypocritical statement coming from a man like Kotaro. In fact, Saki was fit to call her manager out on having the gall to call others crazy, but she was cut off when Kotaro cut her off.

"Anyway ladies," Kotaro began, "We ought to get going soon. It simply would not do to keep the good folks who were so gracious enough to offer us a spot in the VIP booth of their school's stadium to watch the best and brightest of their students take on t he visiting Americans in what I have no doubt will be an awesome performance." The ten zombie girls of Franchouchou were all made to hurry up in finishing their breakfast, then after the girls were all dressed and Kotaro had applied his legendary make-up skills to gussy up Tae to make her look like one of the living, all of them proceeded to get ready to head out to go visit Vulcan High.

* * *

Soon enough, Kotaro led the ten zombie girls through the doors of the main building of Vulcan High, one of the more notable hero academies in Japan, and the self-proclaimed greatest rival to Japan's top hero academy, U.A. High School. The visiting party were greeted by a plump (but not straight up obese) blonde-haired woman who was sharply dressed. The woman identified herself as Kagura Hojo, the principal of Vulcan High.

"I'm both surprised and honored that you actually accepted my invitation, Mr. Tatsumi," Kagura said as she greeted the visiting party, "Believe you me, you and the actresses that you manage are going to be in for quite a spectacular performance as you all watch the students of my school wipe the floor with their American opponent."

Sakura, her attention caught by what the plump blonde woman said, had a curious and mildly suspicious look on her face. "Opponent?" repeated the long haired zombie girl, her surprised tone and the way she emphasized the lone word she just said indicating she was curious about how the word in and of itself indicated that only one person was going to face off against the team that would be representing the self-proclaimed greatest rival of Japan's top hero academy.

Kagura, understanding what Sakura was trying to get at, nodded a few times in confirmation. "Indeed. Believe it or not, the principal of Royal Woods High, the visiting high school from the United States, asked that the exhibition match have one-hundred of my school's students face off against just one student from her school's team. The exhibition match is indeed going to be a one-hundred versus one affair."

The zombie girls were all surprised when they heard that the exhibition match that they were about to watch would have one-hundred Vulcan High students face off against just one student on the team representing the high school visiting from the United States. The last time that any of them ever heard of a one-hundred versus one fight was the story of Sigrid's death back in the nineties, where she alone fought a force of one-hundred delinquents from a combined five rival gangs; the half-foreign zombie girl ended up killing eighty-seven of her foes and wounding the remaining thirteen before she herself was vanquished.

Many of the zombie girls did not believe that one lone American high schooler was going to take on one-hundred Japanese high schoolers all at once. In fact, Lily raised a hand and asked, "Do you know who the American high school that's visiting Japan is going to send in to take on the team representing Vulcan, Mrs. Hojo?"

"All that I got on the matter is that the lone girl that Royal Woods High is going to send in is named Allison," Kagura replied. The plump blonde woman gave a gentle shake of her head, as well as shrug her shoulders. "I have no idea what manner of quirk miss Allison has, but by no means will it be enough to allow her to single-handedly defeat a team of one-hundred of the best students that Vulcan High has to offer." The principal of Vulcan then gave a smug, self-amused smile before adding, "In fact, my son Yuki is part of the team, and he's going to be leading his fellow schoolmates into the exhibition team battle personally."

"Ah, so your son is a student here," Sigrid remarked, amused by the lady principal's show of pride in her personal brood. Gesturing to Kagura, the half-foreign zombie girl went on, "Well here's hoping that your son and his ninety-nine schoolmates all fare well in their battle against their lone opponent. Although numbers are on the side of Vulcan, it is wise to not automatically assume that the day to be yours."

Kagura, letting out an amused hum, held up a hand to cut off further argument from Sigrid. "Oh please. There's no way that one lone girl from the Royal Woods High team can take on and beat a team of one-hundred students from my school, or from any hero academy for that matter. The American school is a regular, run-of-the-mill public high school, with no established department set up to help quirked students manage and train their powers. I only humored the challenge from the principal of Royal Woods High because I want it to be known that it was Vulcan who won against Royal Woods High before they had their scheduled event against the lofty U.A." With a smirk, Kagura added, "Plus, I want to humiliate the Americans by making them eat their words."

Kotaro crossed his arms over his chest, a hint of suspicion in his expression. Normally a bit on the eccentric side, the manager of Franchouchou, in a somewhat rare instance, looked like he was actually being serious. "…With all due respect, I don't think it's wise to count your chickens until they hatch, Principal Hojo. Given the nature of the world at large out there, I wouldn't be all that surprised if this Allison girl from the States is actually strong enough to warrant her being given a force of one-hundred opponents to face all on her own and all at once."

Kagura, to her credit, looked like she understood Kotaro's stance on the matter. "…I suppose that we're all going to have to wait and see what the exhibition match has to show all of us then, now won't we?" The plump blonde woman then gestured for Kotaro and the ten zombie girls to all follow her, as she would be leading them to the arena on Vulcan High grounds, as that is the location of the exhibition match that is going to be taking place soon.

* * *

Soon enough, the girls of Franchouchou and Kotaro found themselves seated in a special, sectioned-off area of the bleachers, an area akin to a VIP section. There, the ten zombie girls saw a woman who was identified to them as Principal Butterbean, the principal of Royal Woods High School. Sitting next to the American principal was a young boy with snow-white hair. The sight of the boy caught some of the undead actress troop members by surprise.

The young boy, who looked to be late elementary school age at the oldest, wore a long-sleeved white shirt under an orange shirt that was open in the front, a pair of tan-colored cargo pants held up with a belt, gray socks and white shoes that had red stripes on them. He was Caucasian, same as Principal Butterbean. The boy also had freckles under his eyes, and a noticeable front tooth that had a bit of a chip in it. The boy sat on Principal Butterbean's left, his hands resting on his lap as he looked into the arena.

"I hope that you seriously know what you're getting into here," Kagura remarked when she turned to face Principal Butterbean, "Asking for one-hundred of my school's students to face just one girl from your school's team."

Principal Butterbean began speaking in English to Kagura, surprising the girls of Franchouchou a little. After the American woman finished speaking, the white-haired boy who was with her began speaking in Japanese. "She says that she's happy you remembered how many students from your school she asked for to face Allison." Many of the zombie girls who were observing this realized that the boy was there to serve as a translator; given that the visiting high school was visiting from the United States of America, which is a country that speaks English primarily, it was understandable that they would need someone fluent in Japanese to help them communicate while they were in the land of the rising sun.

Kagura, after the white-haired boy translated for Principal Butterbean, jerked a thumb over her shoulder in order to point out Kotaro and the girls of Franchouchou. "…I'm just glad that you had no issue with letting the guests that I had invited to come by watch this exhibition battle," remarked the principal of Vulcan.

Once more, the white-haired boy had to translate for Principal Butterbean, before turning to face Kagura and tell her what the American principal had just said. "She says that she's surprised that you were able to convince a group of ten actresses and their manager to come by and watch this exhibition battle."

"Well why wouldn't I have the girls of Franchouchou accept Kagura's invitation?!" Kotaro replied as he stood up, drawing all eyes to himself. Kotaro held a hand over his chest as he addressed the American guests. "I suppose you two from America are owed an introduction," the eccentric man remarked, "I am Kotaro Tatsumi, and the girls here make up the actress troop Franchouchou, who are the stars of Japan's latest prime time hit, Saga Stories!" Kotaro then gestured to each of the ten girls that were with him, introducing each of them as he gestured to every last of them one by one. "The girls here are Sakura, Saki, Junko, Yugiri, Lily, Ai, Tae, Sigrid, Ayumu and Hikari."

"Umm, it's nice to meet you," Sakura remarked, looking as if she was a bit unsure of what to say. "…Umm, I never thought that I'd get to meet someone from the States, especially after what all I've been through."

Mrs. Butterbean and the white-haired boy both looked surprised, although for the former her surprise came after the white-haired boy had translated the Japanese to English. Looking to the actresses and their manager, the white-haired boy remarked, "I never thought that I'd get to meet Japanese actresses." Kagura was clearly amused amused by how the Americans were shocked that she had managed to arrange for straight-up legit celebrities to come and watch the exhibition battle. Granted, the Americans seemed to not be aware of the fact that the girls of Franchouchou were straight up monsters, standard zombies to be specific, but to be honest it was not too big of a deal that the Americans had to be made aware of.

It was especially so, given that Americans tended to have something of an obsession with hunting and killing various undead, standard zombies especially.

Those thoughts were all pushed to the side when Kagura and the others in the VIP booth heard some doors down in the arena pit open. Looking down, the spectators saw a large pair of plain tannish metal double doors open outward into the arena pit, and after that a mass crowd of Vulcan High students, led by Kagura's own son Yuki, started to rush in. "You all should watch this exhibition battle," the principal of Vulcan High remarked, clear amusement in her tone, "The students at my school are about to show just why Vulcan High is the closest Japanese hero high school in terms of upstaging the prestigious U.A."

After the last of the Vulcan High students had finished rushing out, the doors that opened to let them out closed behind them, effectively trapping all one-hundred of them in the pit of the arena. As they all stood there, the one-hundred Vulcan High students proceeded to look around, as if in confusion. The zombie girls and Kotaro could understand why; all of them were looking for the lone opponent that all of them would be facing.

As if their collective question had been answered, the Vulcan High students heard a random female voice call out to them from the other far end of the arena pit. Similarly, all of those in the VIP booth that were watching the exhibition team battle event turned to look to see who they all knew was a Royal Woods High girl by the name of Allison. Sure enough, the zombie girls and Kotaro all spotted the lone American girl down in the arena, the lone American girl who was set to do battle against one-hundred Japanese foes all at once.

Allison had her yellow-blonde hair in twin ponytails that fell down over her back, with said ponytails long enough to reach halfway down her shoulder blades, although she had her bangs framing her face. Her outfit consisted of a sleeveless thick cloth top of dark green worn under a gold yellow sleeveless vest that would have exposed her midriff if not for the green sleeveless shirt; the vest was connected only by a golden brooch that was detailed to resemble the head of a snarling wolf, with the brooch clearing being of Nordic make.

The lone American girl wore metal shoulder pads with fur trim, a belt that was composed of metal links crafted to resemble skulls and from each skull on the belt a length of leather studded with a few metal spikes trailed down, under the belt and leather lengths was a dark fur skirt that reached her knees, a skirt that looked to have been made from a bear pelt. Under the skirt was a pair of durable cloth pants with knee guards over the knees, and Allison also wore a pair of fur trimmed boots that reached halfway up her shins; the legs of her pants ended up disappearing into her boots.

She also wore a simple dark leather headband/circlet over her forehead, and a pair of fur bracers that started at the crooks of her elbows, covered the rest of her arms going towards her hands, and also covered the lower halves of the back of her hands. In Allison's right hand was, to the surprise of the zombie girls of Franchouchou (aside from Sigrid who looked as if her interest was piqued), a four-iron golf club. Lastly, there was also a thin, black leather rectangular case worn over her back, peeking out from behind her right shoulder and left hip.

Down in the arena pit, after she noticed that she was spotted by her mass swarm of opponents, Allison began to yell at them in a language that not only clearly wasn't Japanese, it also was clearly not English either. Everyone in the VIP booth was likewise curious about the language that the lone American girl was shouting in, and it was out of said curiosity that Kagura turned to regard Principal Butterbean and the white-haired boy.

"Do either of you know what the hell she's saying?" Kagura asked her American guests as she pointed down into the arena at Allison.

"I can go ahead and tell you than neither Mrs. Butterbean nor I speak Swedish," the white-haired boy said as he regarded Kagura, identifying the language Allison was shouting in as Swedish in the process, "So I have no idea what she is-"

"I am Allison Ace." Everyone else that was in the VIP booth turned to regard Sigrid after they had heard her speak up at that moment, surprised that she understood what Allison was shouting. "Daughter of Ashe, niece of Sejuani. I stand before you all here today as the Viking Hero Asgardian. To those among you who lack fear in their hearts, come forward. Let us make this contest a glorious battle that will entertain the gods of Valhalla."

"You…" Saki said as she and the other Franchouchou girls all looked surprised at Sigrid, "…Understood what she's saying?"

The half-foreign zombie girl, her arms crossed over her chest, simply nodded once in the affirmative. "That one down there is formally challenging her foes to battle. She aims to win glory in battle this day." Sigrid turned to regard her fellow actresses, a wry look of amusement on her face. "We would do well to watch this contest, girls. I get the feeling that we are going to be in for quite the treat." The half-foreign zombie girl turned back around to look down in the arena, her gaze locked firmly on where the Viking Hero stood.

"That one down there is a warrior."

The girls of Franchouchou all turned their attention to look down into the arena; one of the boys on the Vulcan high team looked like he was saying something to his ninety-nine teammates, but the girls couldn't hear it due to how far away he was. However, the girls could hear it when another one of the boys shouted, "CHARGE!" The one-hundred Vulcan students all proceeded to run right at Allison, who likewise was charging all of her opponents. However, something took place that caught most everyone, competitor and spectator alike, by surprise.

Allison became completely enshrouded in golden lightning.

The lone Royal Woods High girl spotted a fairly large boulder that was one of the obstacles in the arena; she ran up to it, jumped up to land on it and then, with a lot more effort, jumped from the top of the boulder and seemingly flew over the oncoming horde of Vulcan High students, drawing awe from the ten zombie girls who were watching. Allison soared over the masses until she started to descend, falling right towards the lot of them as if she were a bolt of lightning striking down from the blue.

She landed approximately in the middle of the large mass of Vulcan students, creating a burst of golden lightning that exploded out from her like an exploding dome that expanded outwards. Many of Allison's opponents were hit by the bursting dome of golden lightning, with most of those who were hit being knocked out automatically by the massive AOE attack. And that all was just _one _attack from Allison, one that surprised Sigrid in particular.

Standing up straight from the landing position she had landed in, Allison turned to face her many opponents, immediately spotting the basset hound boy. Switching her golf club to her left hand, the Viking Hero shouted, "Gungnir Bolt!" as she conjured a sphere of golden lighting above the tips of her right hand's fingers. Making a throwing motion, Allison thrusted the power at a boy whose quirk gave him minor basset hound-esque features. The golden lightning sphere thinned out when Allison did this, turning into a rod-like shape.

The thinned out orb, now somewhat resembling a spear, flew right at the basset hound boy, striking him in the gut and sending him flying away with an explosive burst of power. After she had defeated the basset hound boy, Allison was distracted when a girl whose quirk gave her chinchilla-eqsue features tried hitting her on her left side. The lone Royal Woods High girl arched a wry eyebrow as she saw the chinchilla girl's look of total shock that the golden lightning cloak did not so much as waver. Allison took her golf club, also enshrouded in golden lightning, and struck the chinchilla girl along the side of her head, knocking her out.

Allison then looked up into the sky and, as she returned her gold club to her right hand's grasp, pulled her right fist back before thrusting it up into the air, holding her cherished weapon aloft as she shouted, "Thunderer's Storm!" A massive burst of golden lightning flew from Allison's right arm and soared up into the air, before spreading out over the airspace over the arena in a manner that made many of the Vulcan students question just what kind of insanity was happening.

Before any of the Vulcan High students who were still active could get a read on what was going on, lightning bolts of gold began to fall down from the skies above. The display drew a lot of surprise out of Kotaro and the undead girls of Franchouchou. Sigrid was particularly amused by the sight, as if she were beholding one of the very deities that she venerated, or at least an avatar of one of said deities, do battle here on Midgard. Never before had the half-foreign zombie girl seen such a display of battle prowess, with even her own glorious finish many years ago nowhere near close enough to being able to compare.

The girl of golden lightning down in the arena was an absolute warrior.

…

The battle was over far later than anyone would have guessed a one-hundred versus one affair to last; not only that, but it ended with the one defeating all of the one-hundred. Allison, after she had knocked out a Vulcan student that was identified as the son of Vulcan's principal, looked up straight into the skies above before letting let loose a cry of victory, a warrior's shout.

"That…" Kagura said, beyond shocked that the lone Royal Woods High girl had so utterly humiliated the elite hero academy that is Vulcan High. Kagura, a look of disbelief on her face, turned to face Mrs. Butterbean who, when she sensed that someone was looking at her, turned to face the appropriate direction. "…That girl is seriously part of the team that your school is going to throw against U.A." The white-haired boy had to do translations, but after that the American principal did indeed confirm that Allison was going to be one of the ten students of RWHS that would be facing off against whatever team U.A. assembled.

Sakura and the other girls of Franchouchou, aside from Sigrid who still looked amused to have seen such warrior power take part in battle and Tae who due to being unawakened was still mostly unaware of what all was going on, all looked a bit nervous for U.A.'s sake; they all seriously hoped that the top hero academy of Japan had _someone_ that would help to even up the balance of power, otherwise Allison alone would probably do to U.A's team what she did just now to Vulcan's team.

Kagura, at first, had paled when she was told that Allison was indeed confirmed to be on the team to face off against whatever team U.A. formed for the team battle event. Kotaro and some of the undead girls could see that look in the plump, blonde-haired woman's face, the unsettled feelings hinted at becoming more pronounced as she saw Asgardian continue to shout into the heavens above, shouting to her gods as if she were asking if she had appeased them with the show of battle. However, something that Franchouchou and their manager observed regarding the next thing Kagura did surprised them.

She suddenly began _laughing_.

Kotaro and the zombie girls had no idea why Kagura was laughing, the manner of her laughing coming off as if she might have just lost a bit of her mind. The principal of Vulcan High then proceeded to try to force herself to calm down, and after she had done so she turned to face her American counterpart Mrs. Butterbean. "I'm really sorry, but I just couldn't help but think of how U.A. is going to deal with it when they see your student down there face off against their pampered brats."

The white-haired boy quickly translated what Kagura had said, and after Mrs. Butterbean gave a response, the boy translated what she said so that those who did not speak English could understand what she was saying. "Well since the future of a lot of schools all over the state of Michigan is riding on the Royal Woods High team defeating U.A. in our upcoming team battle event, I figured that it was a better to be safe rather than sorry."

"Hey, are those kids going to be alright?" Sakura asked from behind where the principals and the white-haired boy sat in the bleachers overlooking the arena pit of Vulcan High's stadium, pointing down into the arena. Lincoln did the translations, then turned around and spoke after Mrs. Butterbean gave an answer. The long-haired zombie girl was very clearly concerned for all one-hundred quirked high school students who had just been swept by a lone opponent."

"Yes, even Allison knows better than to do more harm than need be," the white-haired boy replied as he turned to face Sakura, "She only did enough to knock her opponents out. They should recover soon enough."

The undead girls and Kotaro all heard Kagura let out a sigh of relief, clearly thankful that her students were all going to be okay. Some of the girls of Franchouchou, along with their manager, could see Kagura smile to herself. It was a darkly amused smile that made it clear she was looking forward to seeing what hell was waiting in store for the students of Japan's top hero academy, given that one of their inevitable opponents was in possession of so legendary a power.

* * *

Kotaro, after the exhibition battle was over, led the girls out of the VIP booth. After the group had made their way to the front lobby area of the main building for Vulcan High, they all stopped short when they heard a young boy's voice call out to them. "Wait! You're those ten actress girls that watched Allison's fight just now." The party turned around and saw the white-haired boy walk up to them, the unknown blonde teen girl and Allison both following him.

Gesturing to Sakura as she stood closest to him, the white-haired boy asked, "I'm just wondering, but why were you guys here to watch the exhibition battle? It seems a bit weird to me that you guys would come here without a reason."

"I suspect it's because the principal wanted to show off to famous celebrities by letting them watch her school's best and brightest show what they're made of," Sakura replied. The long-haired zombie girl then gestured to Allison. "…Umm, but I think that she kind of took Kagura's plan and turned it completely on its head."

The white-haired boy nodded in understanding. "Yeah, Allison is nothing short of insanely overpowered. In fact, there are three-"

The boy was cut off when Sigrid stepped forward from the group of girls, her eyes firmly on Allison. The half-foreign zombie girl held a hand up in a gesture of greeting to the Viking Hero. "(The gods look upon you favorably, warrior,)" Sigrid said, surprising everyone as she spoke to Allison in Swedish. The gold lightning girl herself was the most surprised, her eyes widening a bit as she was addressed in a language she understood. "(I have no doubt that your awesome display of battle prowess today has earned you some favor from them.)"

Allison, after she looked like she recovered from the initial shock of being spoken to in a language she understood, gave off a bit of an amused smile. "(…I did not expect to encounter anyone here who spoke in a tongue that I can understand,)" Allison spoke to Sigrid in Swedish, "(Tell me, what is your name?)"

"(I am Sigrid Aesirson,)" the half-foreign zombie girl replied, lightly pounding her right fist over her chest.

The Viking Hero smiled more in amusement. "(…Allison Ace.)" She held out a hand to Sigrid, offering a handshake that Sigrid had accepted. Both girls had firm grips as they shook hands, but a look of surprise overcame Allison's face as she held Sigrid's hand. When the two girls let go, Allison looked at Sigrid, a mild hint of suspicion in her face. "(…You are a draugr.)"

Sigrid, lacking more surprise in her expression than she should have had upon realizing that someone was able to tell she had been returned to life as one of the undead, let out a knowing sigh. "(Indeed I am, although it was not by my choice. I have still yet to learn why the all-father had permitted my return to Midgard, for I had fallen honorably in battle. He would not send true warriors who had earned their rewards back without a reason.)"

A strong hint of knowing understanding appeared in Allison's face as she nodded in agreement with the half-foreign zombie girl. "(No, he would not. I shall pray for you that you learn what it is that Odin had sent you back here for, so that you may accomplish what he had bade you to do. I know that I would do so if I were in your position.)" Sigrid nodded once in thanks before asking Allison to keep the truth of her undead status a secret. Allison, in respect to one who is a warrior same as her, agreed to do so; it helped that no body else knew Swedish, so noone knew what the hell they were saying.

Since every piece had been said, the girls of Franchouchou turned around to leave with their manager. "Wow, Sigrid," Lily remarked as she and the other girls made it out to the parking lot with Kotaro, "That was really amazing how you spoke an entire conversation with someone in a completely foreign language!"

"Indeed, little one," Sigrid replied, "It's rare for me to be able to speak to someone in the tongue I had learned from my father so very long ago."

"Okay girls," Kotaro said, "I think that the main purpose of our trip here was because Kagura wanted us to see her school's students mop the floor with their foreign opponent, but that ended up being a bust when all one-hundred of the Vulcan kids got themselves massacared by Sigrid two point o." Clapping his hands together, the manager of Franchouchou continued, "Regardless, we should still remark to people who interview you about the match you watched here that the students of Vulcan were nothing short of amazing, displaying skill that made it clear they aren't known as the top rival to U.A. for nothing."

Most of the zombie girls all nodded in agreement with Kotaro, save for Tae who still didn't quite know what all was going on. Sigrid was honestly more investing in the display that Allison had put on, but she shrugged and indifferently agreed to go along with what the eccentric man had said. All matters of business had been settled, so with nothing else holding them back, Kotaro and the girls of Franchouchou got into the van and drove off. Some of the zombie girls wondered just what the actual team battle event, where Allison and her teammates would face off against the team that U.A. would be putting in, would all be like.

It would be an awesome battle, that much is certain.

END, SAGA STORIES CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Author's notes;

This chapter sees events of the events of chapter thirty-four of 'A couple that will go down in legend' from the point of view of the characters of 'Saga Stories'. The girls of Franchouchou were amazed by the display of power, reminding them of what Kotaro had told some of them a long time ago about how the world at large is a rather large place, that anything is possible. What will be in store next for Sakura and the others needs to be seen to be believed.

Also, sorry if this chapter is a bit shorter than the average for this story.


End file.
